Arizona's community colleges may have the best chance ever of finally being able to offer four-year degrees to their students.

Far more than a “gap year,” there are growing concerns among community and education leaders that the pandemic may derail the college plans of many students – especially low-income, first-generation and other students already underrepresented on campus.

On a 3-6 vote Tuesday the Senate Education Committee quashed legislation which would have allowed these colleges to start offering baccalaureate degrees.

While nearly half the $12.3 billion is going to K-12 education, the proposed spending plan by Gov. Doug Ducey also carves out dollars for some new and expanded programs and priorities.

Three Republican lawmakers have reached a consensus on a plan to ask voters to raise a sales tax for education funding.

Arizona legislators advanced a budget deal struck by Senate and House leaders and Gov. Doug Ducey, but the bills won’t move any further unless GOP leadership can change the minds of more than a dozen rank-and-file members opposed to the spending plan.

Gov. Doug Ducey is defending a budget proposal that would take more money from Arizona's universities, saying it was necessary to slash deeper there to ensure a balanced budget.

Community college officials came in full force to the state Capitol earlier this year to outline the potential ramifications for the proposed steep cuts to their budgets. Yet at the time they made their case, most college districts were sitting atop millions of dollars in cash reserves.

The governing board overseeing the Maricopa County Community College District is weighing whether to raise tuition rates by 7 percent as it anticipates deep funding cuts by the state.