A professional wants to pursue a master's degree, but children and a full-time job make the two-hour drive to the nearest graduate school impossible. A sophomore wants to advance to baccalaureate studies, yet simply cannot afford to move and live on campus. Many professionals and community college students in areas lacking four-year institutions struggle with the same question: where to go next? Community colleges are partnering with four-year institutions to give these students an answer: the university center. University centers offer fully accredited baccalaureate and graduate degrees from one or more public and private colleges and universities all housed at the same location. Some programs require four-year degree-seeking students to obtain their first two years of higher education at the community college level, then transfer to the university center for their junior and senior years. Other programs allow these students to take community college and university center courses concurrently. Students who have sufficient credits may go directly to the university center. Degrees are granted by the partner institutions, not the university center. Advocates of the university center model believe it offers several advantages over the community college-administered baccalaureate program. "The university center enables everybody to do what they do well," says Charles Evans, University Center of Lake County board member and assistant vice president for academic affairs at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Because university center partners bring in the programming, community colleges "do not have to reinvent the wheel." The community college thrives on relationships between educators, businesses, and most importantly, its community. University center partnerships form a logical extension of those relationships. The university center provides a sense of comfort and a tangible goal. Every day, community college students and professionals see the institution to which they will eventually advance; they know where they are going.