Community Colleges – An Option Worth Consideration
Camille Rodriquez
April 2010
When high school students are considering college choices, it is becoming more and more common to consider a community college as the starting point for their college career. Called a “2 +2” approach, the two years spent in a community college prior to completion of their degree at a four-year institution can be time well spent. This route will save money, give students greater access to professors, and allows students to focus on study habits, learning, and completion of basic course requirements while still making progress towards their degree.
In the past, this route might have been considered less desirable or only for adults returning to school, but community colleges offer an affordable route to college for all students, regardless of age. Particularly for college bound high school students though, there are significant financial savings when choosing a community college over a four-year college. Class fees for the hourly rates are reduced, and there are likely not to be as many supplemental fees. For instance, at most four-year state universities, the trend is to require freshman to purchase a meal plan regardless of their intentions to eat at the cafeteria. This can add several hundred dollars to the cost of that school. That is before the library fees, gym fees, resource fees, buildings and grounds fees, etc. are added into the bill. These fees are typically not a part of a community college tuition package, thus making this option very appealing.
The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that the average cost of one year of tuition, room, and board at a public four-year school is $13,424. Compare that to the same reporting agency’s estimation for a two-year school of only $6,966. If your student lives at home for the first year of that two-year community college path, then that figure will be even lower. That factor is one that is hitting college graduates hard in today’s economy as they graduate from college with significant debt related to expenses at those four-year schools that could have been reduced. With facts such as this at your disposal, considering a 2 + 2 approach is a wise consideration for your student. They can still look forward to the college of their dreams when they transfer, but they can take an alternate path to get there.
An additional benefit of community colleges is that classes are smaller and professors are much more accessible to the student. This allows your student to have more opportunities to interact with their professor, get assistance as needed, and receive more individualized instruction. Transitioning into college this way has been a very successful route for many students. They can spend necessary time honing their study skills and organizing their learning so that they earn higher grades and perform more consistently. Students also have access to many extracurricular groups and organizations, and at smaller community colleges, this becomes a wonderful resource for making connections, both with the faculty and with other students. Faculty connections are a priceless resource to develop during this time as those recommendations and their impact can open many doors down the road.
Recently, an informal poll was taken among some college students on Facebook. Students were asked what they wish they had known before attending college. Among the answers that came up more than once is the hindsight realization that they wish they had considered a community college option prior to leaving for their four-year college. They agree that while there might seem to have been a stigma attached to this option from high school students at the time they were in high school, once they were in the college, this stigma disappeared. The realization that they could have gotten a solid footing with fewer academic and social adjustments all at once has been one of the lessons that they wish they had known earlier, not to mention the difference in expenses that could have been saved.
Taking all of this into account, high school students would be wise to pursue this path to a college degree and with adequate study skills, time to settle into a college routine at the community college level, and an economical place to do so, they are much more likely to be successful at a four-year school.
by Camille Rodriquez