10 Reasons to Pick a Community College
One of the fastest-growing and most important segments of the American college scene is the community college (in some cases called two-year, junior, or technical colleges). Including such institutions as Miami-Dade College, Broward College, Northern Virginia Community College and the many campuses of the Maricopa Community Colleges (Phoenix), City College of San Francisco, City College of New York, Los Angeles Community College District, and Houston Community College Systems, community colleges enroll a full 44 percent of U.S. undergraduate students. That's 6.7 million credit students, plus 5 million students who are not candidates for a degree, at 1,177 urban, suburban, and rural institutions. To find out what the main differences are between the community college and the four-year liberal arts institution—and whether you should consider applying to a community college—we invited visiting blogger George R. Boggs, president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges and former president of Palomar College (a two-year college in California), to offer his thoughts. Here's what he has to say:
With family budgets now under the microscope, community colleges have become attractive alternatives to the more expensive four-year colleges and universities. There are many reasons that nearly half of American undergraduates choose to start their higher education in a community college. Here are the top 10:
1. Affordability. Average annual tuition and fees for a full-time student at community colleges average $2,402, versus $6,585 at a public four-year college or university and $25,143 at a private institution. In addition, students can live at home and save on housing and food. To help meet even these reduced expenses, community college students often find they qualify for financial aid while attending. And in many cases, the colleges offer work-study or part-time jobs for students.
2. Convenience. Community colleges offer classes at times and locations that are convenient for students. Classes are often offered at off-campus locations and in the evenings or on weekends in addition to the more traditional day classes. An abundance of online classes provides yet another alternative to make education convenient to those who must fit school around work or family responsibilities. And students can choose to attend on a full-time or a part-time basis.
3. Open access. Community colleges do not have exclusive admissions standards that require high scores on an admissions test or a certain grade-point average from high school. Anyone with a high school diploma or equivalent can enroll. Some students even enroll while in high school to get a head start on college. Starting at a community college gives students a chance to improve a high school record before transferring to a university. However, open access does not mean that students can take any course; students usually are given placement examinations and then advised or placed into developmental courses if they are not up to college-level work.
4. Teaching quality. Community college classes are taught by faculty who care about teaching and student learning, not by teaching assistants. The faculty members are fully committed to teaching and are not pulled away by research interests or the need to publish in order to get tenure. And community colleges are accredited by the same agencies that accredit major universities.
5. Class size. Class sizes at community colleges are much smaller than those found in the freshman and sophomore year at public universities. Most classes have fewer than 35 students and provide more opportunities for students to interact with teachers and other students. Faculty members are accessible and want to help their students be successful.
6. Support services. Community colleges offer a variety of services to help students, and the wise ones learn how valuable these services can be. Services that are often found at community colleges include counseling, advising, tutorials, health care, financial aid, and library services. There are usually computer labs on campus to make it easier for students to complete assignments.
7. Choices. Community colleges offer both vocational programs and academic transfer programs. For example, community colleges prepare most of the nation's registered nurses, police officers, paramedics, firefighters, and advanced-skill technicians. Of course, community colleges also offer courses that transfer into universities and count toward a bachelor's degree. Certificate programs can be completed in a year or less, while associate degree programs take two full years of course work. Of course, it's always important to check with a counselor to be sure that the courses count toward the degree that the student is seeking and that they transfer to the university program the student has identified.
8. Diversity. Community colleges serve the most diverse group of students in higher education. Students differ by age, ethnicity, degree of disability, socioeconomic status, and in many other ways. International students add yet another perspective. The opportunity to interact with and to learn from other students from many different backgrounds and with a variety of life experiences is another big advantage of starting at a community college.
9. Access to modern technology. Because of their strong partnerships with business and industry, community colleges often have cutting-edge equipment that is used by students in the classroom. Employers want job candidates who have experience with the equipment being used by industry, including the most modern computers and scientific instruments. Since community colleges offer classes only at the freshman and sophomore levels, the use of the best equipment isn't reserved for juniors, seniors, and graduate students.
10. Good company. In case a student feels discouraged by the prospect of attending a local community college rather than his or her first-choice university, here are some people who are glad that they started in a community college: J. Craig Venter, the person who mapped the human genome; Richard Carmona, former U.S. surgeon general; Eileen Collins, the first NASA female space shuttle commander; Nick Nolte, actor; Harry Reid, Senate majority leader; and Nolan Ryan, retired baseball pitcher. Several Nobel laureates, state governors, members of Congress, famous sports figures, famous actors, and distinguished business executives got their start in community colleges, but so have many thousands of nurses, skilled technicians, artists, police officers, firefighters, and EMTs.
For more info about community colleges, visit the American Association of Community Colleges.
©2009 Professors ' Guide LLC. All rights reserved.
10 Reasons to Pick a Community College
One of the fastest-growing and most important segments of the American college scene is the community college (in some cases called two-year, junior, or technical colleges). Including such institutions as Miami-Dade College, Broward College, Northern Virginia Community College and the many campuses of the Maricopa Community Colleges (Phoenix), City College of San Francisco, City College of New York, Los Angeles Community College District, and Houston Community College Systems, community colleges enroll a full 44 percent of U.S. undergraduate students. That's 6.7 million credit students, plus 5 million students who are not candidates for a degree, at 1,177 urban, suburban, and rural institutions. To find out what the main differences are between the community college and the four-year liberal arts institution—and whether you should consider applying to a community college—we invited visiting blogger George R. Boggs, president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges and former president of Palomar College (a two-year college in California), to offer his thoughts. Here's what he has to say:
With family budgets now under the microscope, community colleges have become attractive alternatives to the more expensive four-year colleges and universities. There are many reasons that nearly half of American undergraduates choose to start their higher education in a community college. Here are the top 10:
1. Affordability. Average annual tuition and fees for a full-time student at community colleges average $2,402, versus $6,585 at a public four-year college or university and $25,143 at a private institution. In addition, students can live at home and save on housing and food. To help meet even these reduced expenses, community college students often find they qualify for financial aid while attending. And in many cases, the colleges offer work-study or part-time jobs for students.
2. Convenience. Community colleges offer classes at times and locations that are convenient for students. Classes are often offered at off-campus locations and in the evenings or on weekends in addition to the more traditional day classes. An abundance of online classes provides yet another alternative to make education convenient to those who must fit school around work or family responsibilities. And students can choose to attend on a full-time or a part-time basis.
3. Open access. Community colleges do not have exclusive admissions standards that require high scores on an admissions test or a certain grade-point average from high school. Anyone with a high school diploma or equivalent can enroll. Some students even enroll while in high school to get a head start on college. Starting at a community college gives students a chance to improve a high school record before transferring to a university. However, open access does not mean that students can take any course; students usually are given placement examinations and then advised or placed into developmental courses if they are not up to college-level work.
4. Teaching quality. Community college classes are taught by faculty who care about teaching and student learning, not by teaching assistants. The faculty members are fully committed to teaching and are not pulled away by research interests or the need to publish in order to get tenure. And community colleges are accredited by the same agencies that accredit major universities.
5. Class size. Class sizes at community colleges are much smaller than those found in the freshman and sophomore year at public universities. Most classes have fewer than 35 students and provide more opportunities for students to interact with teachers and other students. Faculty members are accessible and want to help their students be successful.
6. Support services. Community colleges offer a variety of services to help students, and the wise ones learn how valuable these services can be. Services that are often found at community colleges include counseling, advising, tutorials, health care, financial aid, and library services. There are usually computer labs on campus to make it easier for students to complete assignments.
7. Choices. Community colleges offer both vocational programs and academic transfer programs. For example, community colleges prepare most of the nation's registered nurses, police officers, paramedics, firefighters, and advanced-skill technicians. Of course, community colleges also offer courses that transfer into universities and count toward a bachelor's degree. Certificate programs can be completed in a year or less, while associate degree programs take two full years of course work. Of course, it's always important to check with a counselor to be sure that the courses count toward the degree that the student is seeking and that they transfer to the university program the student has identified.
8. Diversity. Community colleges serve the most diverse group of students in higher education. Students differ by age, ethnicity, degree of disability, socioeconomic status, and in many other ways. International students add yet another perspective. The opportunity to interact with and to learn from other students from many different backgrounds and with a variety of life experiences is another big advantage of starting at a community college.
9. Access to modern technology. Because of their strong partnerships with business and industry, community colleges often have cutting-edge equipment that is used by students in the classroom. Employers want job candidates who have experience with the equipment being used by industry, including the most modern computers and scientific instruments. Since community colleges offer classes only at the freshman and sophomore levels, the use of the best equipment isn't reserved for juniors, seniors, and graduate students.
10. Good company. In case a student feels discouraged by the prospect of attending a local community college rather than his or her first-choice university, here are some people who are glad that they started in a community college: J. Craig Venter, the person who mapped the human genome; Richard Carmona, former U.S. surgeon general; Eileen Collins, the first NASA female space shuttle commander; Nick Nolte, actor; Harry Reid, Senate majority leader; and Nolan Ryan, retired baseball pitcher. Several Nobel laureates, state governors, members of Congress, famous sports figures, famous actors, and distinguished business executives got their start in community colleges, but so have many thousands of nurses, skilled technicians, artists, police officers, firefighters, and EMTs.
For more info about community colleges, visit the American Association of Community Colleges.
©2009 Professors ' Guide LLC. All rights reserved.
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I notice two things about this article. One is that it is based on the views of a guy whose job is to promote community colleges. He is hardly an unbiased source. Second, most of the comments seem to come from people who work at or run community colleges. Naturally, they have a high opinion of their abilities and their institutions. They may not be the best judges.
Naturally, with tens of millions of people having gone to community colleges, one might expect at least a few hundred successful people would be among their attendees.
While community colleges may sound cheap, they are heavily subsidized by taxpayers -- the real cost is much higher.
Teaching quality can't be measured by the fact that teachers get paid to teach and don't have to do original work in research. Bureaucracies generally hire and keep people -- community colleges are no different from other government-run schools. There are some fine teachers, many mediocre ones, and some incompetents or misfits.
As for diversity, as Thoreau observed, the most valuable thing you get at college costs nothing: a chance to associate with other brilliant students. As a rule, nearly all community college students are from the same town, they come from poorer families, and they were in the bottom half of their high school classes. This may explain why so many politicians are among the acclaimed graduates of community colleges.
A better route for those interested in a cheaper, more convenient education with no admissions process or no community college bureaucracy to deal with, is self-education. You can choose the best books, watch videos like the Teaching Company lectures by professors considered the best in top US universities (available at good public libraries for free), and hire a tutor for any special assistance you may need. The class size is one and pace is ideal, since you set it yourself. The only reason for preferring community college is to get a piece of paper that says you have an education. As a result of the increasing bureaucratization of our society, you now need a diploma for work that high school graduates or even capable dropouts can do.
As for practical knowledge, get a job in the field that interests you -- you'll get paid for learning how things are really done, instead of paying teachers to tell you how they think things are done. Albert Einstein skipped his physics classes, because he felt the teacher was seventy years behind the times. Warren Buffett dropped out of Wharton because the teachers weren't worth the money. It would be foolish to think that typical community college teachers will be better.
Among the famous self-educated (non-college graduates) are Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Tom Cruise, Bill Gates (Microsoft), Michael Dell (Dell Computers), and about one out of six of the Forbes 400 richest people in America.
would like to leave Mia and go to school in CA
I really like CA and would like to move there. I am tired of living in Miami and sick of the mosquitos, humidity, and suffocating heat. I am looking at different schools in CA for me and my kids. Any suggestions for a Grad School, Community College and High School for me and my daughters. I would like to move into an area that is in the middle of all three or relatively in the area. My oldest teenager and I are pursuing Psychology and youngest teenager is entering 10th grade.
Quality Instruction/Great Place to Work
No one so far has mentioned the often wonderful quality of the instruction. As English department chair at Oakland Community College, and former dean of academics, I know how dedicated and intelligent the community college faculty can be. Students get a great education from highly motivated faculty. For example, many of my students have gone on to publish in magazines and journals; one even has his first book published. Several students have earned their MFA's in creative writing.
As a place to work, the community college is a great environment. I can publish and do research without the overbearing pressure, knowing my job does not depend upon my output. My job depends upon me being a good teacher, motivating students, holding high standards, and creating growth in people. What a wonderful set of duties...
David James
English
