College of DuPage is a traditional two-year community college, offering associate degrees across an array of disciplines. The college may soon evolve to expand its offerings to include baccalaureate degrees.

The push for offering the degrees stems from what the college has identified as an unmet need within the community.

California has the country’s largest community college system and is now on the cusp of offering baccalaureate degrees. This is a step in the right direction, according to President Robert Breuder who hopes to see the same opportunity afforded to Illinois community colleges.

“Seven years ago it was still too new for Illinois to embrace it but since then it has traversed the country,” Breuder said. With more and more states jumping on board, the president hopes to see Illinois added to the list next year.

Offering baccalaureate degrees, or “expanding the product line” as Brueder describes it, will draw more students to the college and give them a means to stay longer.

“Once we get you here, we want to keep you here,” Breuder said. “If we to work to identify you, to draw you here and we’re good, then why don’t we try to keep you here?”

As the college continues to augment 3+1 programs and set it sights on baccalaureate degrees, it continues to provided personal attention and consideration to students so they can achieve their unique agenda.

By improving the quality of education as well as student retention, the college hopes to improve upon its standing as institution of higher learning

“People in the past have said ‘well when are you going to become a real college?’ Well we are a real college. The thing is, we can only offer, by law, the associates degree, but they can’t do anything at the University of Illinois in their freshman and sophomore years that we don’t do here,” Breuder said.

Statistics provided by the University of Illinois indicate that students transferring from College of DuPage perform equal if not better than the university’s native students. The fact is one that Brueder finds encouraging and indicative of the quality of education offered at the college.