Generations College, a private nonprofit two-year institution in Chicago, will begin offering four bachelor’s degree programs this fall.
Generations College
Kimberly Newson was 45 years old, married and a mother of six when she enrolled in an associate degree program at Generations College.
Her goal was to show her children that you’re never too old to start something new or pursue a degree. But as Newson approached graduation—and ultimately became her class valedictorian—she had already decided her college journey would end there.
That changed when the private nonprofit two-year institution in Chicago announced it would offer bachelor’s degrees for the first time in its 122-year history, starting this fall.
“I thought I was done. I even told my husband, ‘Yeah, I have my associate degree. I think I’m finished,’” Newson said. “My emails were flooded with so many schools reaching out to me, and I have not opened one.”
What changed her mind, Newson said, was the opportunity to continue at an institution where she had already built relationships and felt supported as an adult learner.
“I had already gained so much trust with Generations College,” she said. “They understand that parents, that adults that go back to school have so much on their plate, so many responsibilities, but they give you that encouragement and that push to keep going.”
Kimberly Newson, who graduated with an associate degree this spring, speaks as her class valedictorian. This fall, she is enrolled in Generations College’s bachelor’s program in business administration with an AI focus.
Generations College
Beyond the associate degree: Generations’ decision comes as a growing number of two-year colleges nationwide are expanding into four-year degrees, often with the goal of creating more affordable and accessible avenues to a bachelor’s degree. More than 200 community colleges across 24 states now offer at least 767 bachelor’s degree programs, even as some four-year institutions have pushed back against the expansion over concerns about competition and duplication.
Research suggests the programs may also be reaching students who otherwise would not pursue a four-year degree. One recent study found that community college bachelor’s degree graduates earned between $4,000 and $9,000 more annually than comparable associate degree graduates, and researchers found that many students enrolled in the programs had not previously considered pursuing a bachelor’s degree.
Grace Alexis, chancellor of Generations College, said the institution will offer four bachelor’s programs: business administration, business administration with an AI focus, entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship with an AI focus. She said the decision to add the degrees was driven in part by students who wanted to continue their education at Generations rather than transfer elsewhere after earning an associate degree.
“A lot of them go kicking and screaming. They don’t want to leave because they know that they’re not going to find the experience that they have at Generations at other schools,” Alexis said. “So, because of their many requests to continue their education with us, we felt that we had to remove the barrier.”
The bachelor’s programs will require 120 credits, compared with 60 for an associate degree. Alexis said students will also have access to the supports Generations already provides, including flexible scheduling, hybrid and online courses, and financial assistance, such as the college’s scholarship program for single parents.
The college said students in the bachelor’s programs will pay the same annual tuition rate as students pursuing associate degrees, though completing the bachelor’s requires an additional two years of study. The same financial aid opportunities available to associate degree students will also be available to bachelor’s students.
Generations initially planned to enroll 30 students in the bachelor’s programs this fall but is nearing 40, Alexis said. All students in the inaugural cohort are Generations alumni who previously earned an associate degree from the college. The college intentionally limited the first cohort to its own graduates as it builds out the programs, and it plans to expand enrollment in the spring, for which it is currently recruiting.
Alexis said the college chose to start with business administration and entrepreneurship because those programs already enroll a large share of Generations students.
“Generations College offers the oldest two-year program for business administration in the state of Illinois,” Alexis said. “The majority of our students are currently enrolled in business administration and entrepreneurship programs, so the need and demand was very clear to us.”
Extending the mission: For Generations, the expansion is a bet that allowing students to remain at the institution where they earned their associate degree—and maintain the relationships and supports they built there—can encourage some who might otherwise stop after an associate degree to continue toward a bachelor’s.
Alexis said the expansion does not mean Generations is moving away from its role as a two-year college. Instead, she sees the bachelor’s programs as an extension of that mission.
“We didn’t just think about doing this overnight. This was a plan that we had for probably over 10 years or so,” Alexis said. “We’re not abandoning our two-year mission. All that we’re doing is extending it.”
She cautioned other two-year institutions considering bachelor’s degrees against viewing the programs primarily as a way to boost enrollment.
“Sometimes the motive of the two-year colleges to add the four-year degree is to increase their enrollment, and I want to caution them in that,” Alexis said. “In our case, for example, we’re a small college. Our goal is not to become a large institution. If we become a large institution, it’s an outcome of what we’re doing, not that that is our goal. We want to become a more complete institution, as opposed to becoming a larger institution.”
For Newson, who is enrolled this fall in the business administration program with an AI focus, the opportunity to continue at Generations has already changed the trajectory of her own education.
“You never know what opening up a bachelor’s program to other people means,” Newson said. “Sometimes people can be complacent with, ‘OK, I was comfortable with this institution, so since they only have an associate degree program, I’m not going to move forward,’ and they may just leave it there. But if you open it up to them, they can achieve so much.”
Get more content like this directly to your inbox. Subscribe here.
