What’s a Community College?
A community college is a two-year educational institution that offers an associate degree, certification programmes for direct employment after graduation or credits that can transfer to a four-year university to complete a bachelor’s degree.
How Does Community College Compare With University
Compared with the traditional university, community colleges emphasise the accessibility and affordability.
They could be a perfect choice if you seek to reduce the inevitable financial load of student debt.
You can also compare different fields or majors for your career, or have another full-time job, family obligations and so on.
If your thinking to yourself if you should go to a community college you can check this article out to help you make that decision.
Benefits of Attending a Community College
1- Cost-Effective Education
The most significant advantage of community colleges is the low cost of it.
On average, tuition and fees for a full-time student at a public community college is $3,990 per year, compared to $11,260 at public four-year institutions (AACC).
This means that if you have access to financial aid, you most likely won’t have to pay out of pocket for tuition.
2- Flexibility and Accessibility
Most Community colleges have flexible class schedules, including night classes, weekend classes and even online classes.
Making it easier for students to balance their studies with other responsibilities such as work and family.
3- Smaller Class Sizes
With smaller class sizes, students will have more personalized attention from instructors.
This can provide better opportunities for academic support but it can be perceived as a disadvantage to some students that get motivated by the shared accountability in a large classroom.
4- Undecided Major
If you’re unsure about your major or career path, going to a community college to try out different classes and explore your interests is perfect.
You can never truly know if a major isn’t for you without trying out some of the core electives of said major.
Personally, this has helped me a lot when I wanted to pick between the various engineering fields!
Recap
So, what’s a community college? It’s an institution that offers affordable, flexible, and quality education to students from all walks of life.
Take a moment to consider if this could be the right path for you. It might just be the best decision you ever make!
