ILLIN, Ill. — Soon, bachelor’s degrees could be offered at some community colleges in Illinois. Gov. J.B. Pritzker is supporting a bill that would allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees. The goal is to make higher education more affordable and fill the gaps of major job shortages.

No matter their age, students who attend Shawnee Community College want to learn — and many at a discount. Freshman Regan Eigenrauch got a full scholarship.

"It was financially easier. Obviously, I played volleyball here too. So I got a scholarship, which was really nice. And I like the small — it’s kind of a great transition from high school to a college because it feels like a college, but then the class sizes are easier, and it’s just an easy transition after high school," Eigenrauch said.

She said hearing about the new bill makes her excited.

"It’s not really an easy way to connect with people. If you’re just here for two years and it’s kind of, you’re here, oh, I have to go somewhere else and make all new friends and a new social life. So I think staying at one college for four years would be a really good opportunity for many people," she said.

President of Shawnee Community College Dr. Tim Taylor said the bill could open the door for many working adults looking to advance their careers. The average age of their students is 25.

It will help the workforce too — Taylor pulled job openings data from a 90-mile radius of the college from last year.

"We still have 1,110 unique job openings. That’s a workforce demand that our workforce needs, and we’re not filling, and because we don’t have enough bachelor degree people in digital technology, we had 195 unique openings, 10 employers, and this was just something we pulled today," Taylor said.

"I think it is a good opportunity for people who are older, people who have kids, or people who just need one to go to college. It’s a cheaper option," Eigenrauch said.

Taylor also mentioned 24 other states that already offer community college four-year degrees — and they wouldn’t compete with traditional universities because they target different age demographics.

For more information on the new bill, click here. 

For the livestream of Pritzker’s, announcement click here.