Giving Compass' Take:

· EdSource reports on California's new fully online community college and how it will break ground in higher ed with productive and targeted programs for career-oriented certificates.

· Can an online college provide the same education received with hands-on experiences?

· Read more about this online community college.

California’s online community college will represent a new vision for higher education when it launches next year and the online education field is watching to see whether it succeeds.

The new fully online college draws from a variety of sources, including public universities’ online degree programs, corporate worker training initiatives and programs at for-profit colleges. California plans to blend those existing influences to create something without precedent: A statewide, online-only public college focused on short, career-oriented certificates.

“This is, in many ways, new for the public systems in this country, and that’s why it’s gaining a lot of attention from the rest of the country,” California Community College System Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley told EdSource.

Read the full article about breaking ground in higher ed by Nico Savidge at EdSource.