Considering Community College

With the cost of higher education being what it is today, an option to which many people turn is community college. Community college refers to an institution of higher learning that is public, offers a 2year term and awards certificates and associate's degrees. Being public, they are often funded by local taxes and consequently extremely affordable when compared against fees incurred by traditional college education.

Though many who attend community college complete their education with an associate's degree in their fields of choice, what many students have decided to do in order to save money and increase their chances of getting into a 4year college is to attend community college for 2 years. In this way, they are able to save money and take advantage of the relatively lax academic standards, getting high marks which could contribute to their admission into a 4year college. Additionally, attending community college often means that one can live locally at home, also a good way to save money. Further, being near home means being able to continue on at any job one may have had during high school or in the summer.

In terms of personal anecdotes, I know that there were several people with whom I went to high school who went to community college after graduation and then had great success transferring to 4year institutions after gaining their associate's degrees in 2 years. Students graduating from the local community college went on to transfer to traditional colleges ranging from CUNY Hunter to NYU to Harvard.

Often there is a stigma associated with community college for reasons including relatively low academic standards when compared to traditional universities as well as continuing to live at home after graduation when most students move away to live at school. Frankly, as true as it may be that the quality of a community college education is relatively lower than at a 4year college, a lot of the stigma comes from jealousy at how much the community college student is saving compounded with the fact that that student many end up transferring to the same university for which the other student will have paid 4 years tuition.

Don't overlook community college. Ignore the stigma and explore your options.