Select junior colleges to offer four-year degrees

Fifteen community colleges in California, including one in the Inland Empire, will soon begin offering four-year degrees.

The state’s Community College Board of Governors selected the colleges, each of which will offer a degree not currently offered by the California State or University of California systems, according to multiple reports.

Board members made their selections at their regular meeting Tuesday in Sacramento.

Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa is the only college selected from the lnland region. It will begin offering a degree in Emergency Services and Allied Health Systems starting in 2016. That program will be designed to create more emergency service personnel, a growing need in the Inland Empire, the reports stated.