Shoreline Community College is getting its first bachelor’s degree. This could mean a name change in the future.

As of summer quarter 2024, Shoreline will be offering a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene, making the school eligible to be named “Shoreline College”. The dental hygiene degree offered will last every quarter starting in the summer of 2024 until graduation in spring of 2026. The program will be held in Seattle at the University of Washington School of Dentistry and has been modeled in accordance with the dental hygiene licensing requirements of Washington state. For this reason, graduates will be eligible for licensure upon completion at Shoreline.

“We are excited about exploring [bachelor programs] and working with our faculty to get more ideas”. President of Shoreline, Dr. Jack Kahn said in an interview.

Out of about 39 community colleges around Washington state, Shoreline is one of the last 9 still holding onto the “community” name. In March of 2014 the board of trustees of Seattle Community Colleges voted to change the names of three community colleges in the city to only “College” after adding bachelor’s degrees to their applied science programs. These included Seattle Central College, North Seattle College, and South Seattle College.

Dr. Kahn mentioned the potential for Shoreline to offer future bachelor degrees with the caveat being; ensuring appropriate resources are available to interested students before the start of a program and breaking the stigma of a community college education.

“If we can both define something that is a need and partner with appropriate industry or organizations that can help us make it successful… people can see [community college] for what it is,” Kahn said.