Pima Community College will likely offer its first bachelor’s degree program beginning in Fall 2026 after the Governing Board voted July 31 to submit the new program for accreditation.
A bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education is pending accreditation after it was unanimously approved by the Pima board, which met online Thursday for a special meeting to advance the approval process. The board first approved the proposed bachelor’s degree in November.
If approved, Pima could launch more bachelor’s programs as early as Fall 2027, said Ian Roark, the school’s provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, acting.
“Your vote clears the way for our first bachelor’s degree at the institution, which is going to be meaningful and life changing to so many,” Roark told the board at Thursday’s online meeting.
“It also allows us to build the requisite process that is internally needed to launch further bachelor’s degrees as early as the Fall of 2027.”
Pima will submit its application to the Higher Learning Commission, an agency that accredits degree-granting colleges and universities, which can take up to eight months to approve it. Students who want to enroll in the inaugural Fall 2026 program must register beginning in April.
The education program is hybrid, Roark said, with most of the coursework online and student teaching and practicums in person. Program cost will be clear pending approval, and it aims to begin with 75 students, according to the Higher Learning Commission documents.
A shortage of teachers throughout the state spurred Pima into action more than two years ago. This time last year, 25.4% of teacher vacancies across the state remained unfilled, while 52.2% of the vacancies were filled by teachers who did not meet the state’s standard certification requirements, according to a survey by the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association. A 2022 report by the association estimated over 9,600 vacant K-12 teacher positions in Arizona.
As a parent of four students in grades K-12, Pima Governing Board chairman Greg Taylor knows about the scarcity of educators.
“I’ve seen teachers leaving in the middle of the year and districts struggling to fill those positions,” he said. “We simply don’t have enough instructors. And that’s what a community college is about: Responding to the needs of the community. There’s clearly a need.”
The K-12 teacher shortage is an opportunity for Pima to offer a pathway that leads to employment for more non-traditional students, Roark told Arizona Luminaria.
Nick Armendariz, 34, is eager for the challenge. A student services specialist at Pima, Armendariz earned his associate’s degree at Pima and would like to pursue the elementary education program.
“I have always loved learning. As I get older, I find myself gaining interest in teaching others,” the Douglas native said. “I’m also discovering that the age of the person isn’t as important as their willingness to learn. Part of a teacher’s job is piquing that interest in learning and I believe I can do that.”
Bachelor’s degrees at community colleges were approved in 2021 when Arizona became the 24th state to allow it. At the time, Arizona’s universities were opposed to the idea. Four years later, the University of Arizona College of Education is on board with Pima’s application, Roark said, adding the institutions will work together.
“It’s been very smooth sailing. Both institutions met and we didn’t want to start building all the processes if it was going to be a non-starter,” Roark said.
Pima’s enrollment was nearly 32,000 full and part-time students in 2023, according to an Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System report. A full-time in-state student taking 30 credit hours during the academic year paid about $3,000 in tuition, according to Pima’s 2024 financial report.
As a Pima employee and a potential student, Armendariz is exploring the options and he is hopeful.
“Having a bachelor’s degree in general gives a tremendous leg up when applying for any work. The difference it would make in my life is mostly in the opportunities that it presents,” he said. “Having a bachelor’s in elementary education doesn’t just present options for me here in the United States. I could travel and teach, or be an English teacher’s aide in various other countries with this type of education.”
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