State-level interest in meeting workforce needs and facilitating adults' baccalaureate attainment is changing conceptions of the applied associate degree and the mission of the community college. In this article, the author draws on data from a recent study about the applied baccalaureate degree (Townsend and Bragg, 2008) to describe the growing presence in public higher education of this degree. Sometimes the applied baccalaureate is offered by the community college and sometimes by the four-year college. The author describes the applied baccalaureate in more detail, then discusses its appearance in four-year colleges and in two-year institutions, and concludes with an assessment of its impact on higher education in general, as well as on the community college's transfer mission and overall mission or place in academe.