In the landscape of higher education, access is central to the community college. An essential element of the mission of community colleges is to provide access to a high-quality higher education to the residents of the county or region in which the colleges reside. In areas that also are served by four-year colleges, a community college can fulfill this mission by limiting itself to being an entree point to higher education. Drawing these factors--time constraints and geographic accessibility--into focus, the author points out that in a situation like this, the best way for a community college to fulfill its mission of providing access to a high-quality higher education for county or regional residents is to offer, at least for certain programs, a baccalaureate degree. However, critics argue that a community college that goes down this path requires the wise allocation of resources. Despite the critics and traditional arguments for community colleges offering the baccalaureate degree, the author is paradoxically a strong advocate for community colleges having the option of offering the baccalaureate. He contends that the ability of community colleges to offer the baccalaureate makes sense where geographical limitations are defined in terms of space "or" time "or" financial considerations. Furthermore, it makes sense for those community colleges that have the normal transfer rates to four-year institutions of 25 percent to 30 percent, "as well as" for those community colleges for which the transfer rates are high but which, nevertheless, also seek to retain the benefits and skills of the more highly educated graduate for their local economy. And finally, it makes sense for those community colleges that focus their service on an older population "and" for those community colleges that also recognize the special unmet needs of their graduates in selected programs. (Contains 1 note.)