By setting clear boundaries for each segment of public higher education, the Plan ensured the continued availability of a wide range of educational options for the types of students to be served by each segment. In contrast, mission creep continues to be a serious problem in several other states which failed to impose and effectively enforce such boundaries. For example, as of January 2021, the U.S. Department of Education does not recognize the Nevada System of Higher Education as having "any" public community colleges under federal standards, after Nevada allowed its purported community colleges to create too many four-year programs during the 2010s and thereby allowed them to deviate too far from the traditional community college role. The result is that Nevada cannot provide its workforce with enough technicians who traditionally earn two-year associate degrees at community colleges, and must import them from adjacent states like Arizona and California which still have actual community colleges.