Community colleges are an oft-overlooked resource for cheap education. They offer classes from trained professionals and provide access to expensive equipment that you otherwise would never be able to use. I love community college for several of reasons:
- Affordability — Community college classes are affordable. Despite recent tuition increases, a class at Portland Community College costs about $200. Community education courses (non-credit classes) cost even less. Some employers will pay for classes; my business will pay for one class per employee per term. If your employer doesn’t have a similar policy, ask!
- Facilities — Community colleges have facilities and practical training unavailable at most universities. My local community college has a wood shop, an automotive shop, and quality darkrooms. Many students take classes simply for access to the facilities. A typical woodworking class is self-directed — you decide what your project is, and then have open access to expensive equipment and an instructor willing to help you use it.
- Instructors — Community college classes are generally taught by real professionals from the field. When I learned computer programming, my classes were taught by instructors who wrote code every day for actual employers. (One of my instructors also taught at Portland State University — she taught the exact same courses at Portland Community College for a quarter the cost.) When I take photography classes, I’m being taught by active professional photographers. One of my writing instructors was Craig Lesley, a prominent Northwest author.
- Networking — Community college classes allow you to network with instructors and students, making valuable contacts in your hobby or profession. I took photography classes at the community college for a couple of years, and the contacts I made in these classes continue to benefit me: I can e-mail my former instructors with questions and ideas; I trade photography equipment with other students; I get to watch as certain students make the leap from amateur to professional. I’m currently in a writers group with a former instructor. Some students land jobs through the contacts they make in class.
- Convenience — Community colleges are aware that they serve a large population of students seeking continuing education. They try to make their classes as convenient as possible. I’ve taken night classes in computer science, writing, photography, algebra, Spanish, and business management. I’ve taken weekend classes in application design. I’ve taken late-afternoon classes in assembly language programming. Community colleges make it easy to get additional education.
- Education — Most importantly, community colleges act as a safety net for those who need an education. Some kids aren’t ready for high school. Others aren’t ready for college. Community colleges are there to help those who have realized the value of an education and are looking to correct mistakes they’ve made in the past. Even adults in mid-career can use community college courses to change their focus. After eighteen months of community college computer programming courses, I landed a job hacking C++ for an environmental engineer.
When I was in high school, I made fun of the local community college. You’d never catch me going to such a place. No, instead I went to a fancy private institution where yearly tuition cost as much as a nice car. And while I was earning my degree from this fancy private institution (which I love, by the way — don’t get me wrong), I made fun of the local community college. That was a place for losers. I’m older now, and wiser.
Over the past fifteen years I’ve attended a score of community college courses. Only one (small business management) has been a dud. Oftentimes on AskMetafilter, a user will post a question like “How can I improve my photography skills?” or “I want to get better at programming for cheap” or “What’s a good way to learn woodworking?” My answer is always: sign up for a class at the community college.
I’m with ya, man, not only because I make my living as commcoll faculty, but because I truly believe in the mission. I wish my parents/friends hadn’t mocked the system when I was a teen because it would have been the perfect environment for me to do my first two years. Instead, completely burned out, uninterested in school, and without direction, I moved out of my parents’ house and started working full-time, at just above minimum wage, which at the time started with a 3. I should have taken a class here and there while working before choosing a college based on the fact it was “in the mountains.” Yeah, that wasn’t too bright. It turned out fine; after all, I met K there, but still . . . now that I get tuition waivers as one of my benefits, I’ve been able to take the following classes: French, streaming media, welding, machine shop, bronze casting, and I’m sure there are others I’m forgetting. Thanks for this great endorsement for community colleges! I am a true believer!
[...] Take a class from your local art school or community college. For a couple hundred bucks, you’ll have access to a professional photographer, to other enthusiastic amateurs, and possibly to expensive darkroom equipment. [...]
[...] Make photographs. Sell your photos! Take a community college class to enhance your skills. Enter photo contests. Display your photos at the county fair. If you make a good image, you can sell it repeatedly for $50, $100, $200. I recently met a woman who now makes her living by selling images through iStockPhoto. [...]
I flat out disagree. As someone who is stuck in a community college right now, I can tell you that the classes offered here are awful, the teachers are bad, and I’m going to lose a lot of credits when I finally do transfer to a university. Go to a college, cc sucks
A D must live in a bad state because I attended community college my first two years here in Illinois, and I transferred as a Jr to a university debt free with all my credits.
umm community college is good in some ways but you dont get the full college experience like living in dorms and living on your own. all the kids that go to cc live at home like me. i feel like im missing out on my college experince. all my friends are out having fun and im stuck at home doing reading homework. but i can see the goods of cc but i think it kind of sucks..sorry
there are pros and cons to community colleges, but overall i think the pros outweigh the cons. i did CC when in my Sr. year of HS.
the CC in my town was very small, but had good instructors. the CC didn’t have a lot of diversity, but treated all students fairly.
i think the thing i got out of CC was just an opportunity to think on a higher plane than HS offered.(small town, small town HS, small town mindset) i got classes out of the way that cost significantly more at uni than at CC.
Thanks for writing this article! I am completely happy with my education from community college and even though “I missed out on the freshman experience,” I transferred and graduated from a top 25 nationally ranked university. My friends who went to community college with me also transferred and are going to go to medical school for the next year. They used their community college classes as prerequisites that needed to apply. Who says you can’t succeed if you went to a cc?
Coming in late, but - Adam - GROW UP. Living at home and going to CC the first few years will save you THOUSANDS of dollars even BEFORE interest. Or do you really have ten or twenty thousand to throw away?
I paid my CC years out of what I was making at a day care center, and my wage started at $3.50/hr….
Yes, transfer to a 4-year school if you need or want a Bachelor’s degree. If you read the fine print when you started CC (aka went to an accredited CC with good xfer policies) you should not have a problem transferring your credits. I got my BS from Seattle Pacific Univ, and they treated my AA as my first two years. This was not uncommon - the state CC have an agreement with most four-year schools in this state to accept AAs in that fashion.
Trust me, you will have plenty of years to pay rent after college - while you save for a down payment.
I agree with Adam. If you’re like me and you’ve been looking forward to going to college since middle school, only to have that taken away from you due to lack of financial aid–it does suck. Face it: the best part of going to college is not only the opportunity to learn more but to interact with new people as well, and a CC doesn’t offer that level of social interaction or feeling of family.
As a current CC student, I agree to an extent with everyone. I started CC as a running start student in my 10th grade of high school. This allowed me to get a year and a half (could have been two if I hadn’t been lazy) of college courses for free! It’s been said that cc doesn’t offer the quality education you would get at a university, however that isn’t entirely true. There are courses that have been less than stellar, but hell, they were free. Overall I think I’ve received a pretty good 2 year education (an Associate’s degree) for nothing more than my time. This also allowed me to work a fulltime job as a high school student, and now at 20 years old I’m making $70K a year. Of course I need to pay for the last two years of my BA degree, but I fully recommend community college not only to those looking for a recreational course, but to those looking to get ahead early on.
I agree with the article. I am a student who went to a traditional four year school for engineering for the first semester and transferred to a 2 year. I’m finishing all of the general education classes (the ones I don’t care about) for a quarter of the cost, and transferring back, where I’ll pay the money for the quality degree-specific courses. It takes a lot of work, and you have to get used to reading the fine print and contacting the people yourself, but it’s worth it; you also become more independent throughout the process. The practical arts classes at community colleges are valuable too.
You ARE missing out on a social aspect. But it gets boring. Trust me, it takes all of one semester to get used to it. It isn’t worth even paying IN-STATE tuition. Poor souls that went out of state. . .
Pay the money for the classes you care about, because they probably are a higher quality at a four year. But don’t waste the time or money sitting in a dorm to take Composition 1 and History of the Western World. Beer is cheap.
I went to a cc & agree with many of the comments here, now I teach at a CC & am an advisor for an Honor Society.
But while at a cc join their Honor Society, if you qualify. Phi Theta Kappa offers members a network of colleges that provide great transfer scholarships totaling over $36million to 4 year institutions (wish I heard about them though when I was attending).
I fully support and appreciate Community Colleges. Now, if you are 18-19 I understand that you can miss the initial social aspect of the first semester. But I have to say hugging the ceramic bowl of grace & ralphing in the toilet after a party gets old quick.
The CC system was the only way for me to re-enter college after having to drop out of a university because I couldn’t afford it.
I returned to college as an older adult who knew that for things to get better I needed to invest in education.
I would also say that there is a difference between day CC students and evening folks. After taking a day of crap at the Salt Mine you aren’t going to mess around in your evening classes. It is more focused.
Honestly, I only had one stinker class out of 60 credits.
From a frugal standpoint (if you have a good community college system) you save a bunch of money, many public CCs now have online classes so that certainly saves on gas and parking and you get an accessibility ramp into higher eduction.
I wish we could snuff this on-going elitist distinction between community college and 4 year college and universities.
Usually you don’t start major classes till about your 3rd year of college so it makes a lot of sense to go to CC for the first two years, get the mandatory electives out of the way and transfer to a 4 year school after that. No one cares where you went to school for english 101 or 102, or some basic math course.
As an older and hopefully wiser person, and having had experiences with three different CCs over a 15 year period, as well as a 4 year institution and a University extension, I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of Community Colleges being terrific resources for those that want to focus on economizing and getting prerequisites out of the way.
Are there benefits to going to a 4 year institution right off the bat? Certainly, depending on what you hope to get out of it. If the focus is to have yourself (or your kids) get the requisite knowledge and degree to get out there and work, then where you go and how you go isn’t all that important. If, however, you are looking for other benefits, such as sending your kids to a school sponsored by or closely affiliated with your church, or you are an athlete being courted by a school, then that’s a different story.
Still, it’s entirely possible to do the prerequisite work, get the AA, and then finish up the major at the school of your or your parents choice.
Remember, no one cares where you started your degree, just where you finished it… and frankly, after a couple of years of practical experience in the work force, most employers aren’t going to care all that much about where you finished your degree, either, just that you did.
It seems that a lot of the people who are knocking community college are people who are still going through it right out of high school. Trust me, it’ll be okay! I felt frustrated at that point too, but keep focused on your goals. (Honors programs are fantastic, but you can make it even if you’re not involved in one. Just take the right courses and keep a decent GPA. Check desired 4-year schools early for minimum GPA requirements for transfers.) If you really want that dorm experience, you can have it. Just transfer to a school and stay in the dorms. Don’t worry about being new. Many schools stick the transfers all in the same dorm. Mine did, so we were all new! I didn’t get to stay on campus for four years, but I had a blast! And I got to save money at CC.
I think CC is also good for continuing education for adults. I now have my master’s degree but enjoy taking courses at a CC in my spare time.
Ignore the stigma and go for your dreams whatever they may be. It’s great that you’re in school and heading in the right direction.
Like others have said, CC has its pros and cons. I transferred to a CC my sophomore year and there is a significant drop of workload and extensiveness in 100 and 200 level courses. It is truly dumbed down especially in my major - Philosophy and Sociology. Remember, CC was catered to those who are NOT ready for a four year college or for returning students. There are some students who are exceptions, but they are the outliers. Classes, at least in my departments in my CC, were made to be easy. . .too easy; I did not feel that I was learning much and a good majority of my instructors did not go in depth. Like four yr. universities, CC have programs that are strong and that are weak. Just hope your major isn’t in the weak department.
I would say if you’re REALLY undecided or can’t afford a four year university, opt for CC, but in doing so, look at the curriculum of the department you’re interested in. Some are extensive with courses that are relative to your major while some offer five or six classes in your major that only three or so transfer over.
Also, the quality in a CC varies greatly. Some CCs are amazing and actually prepares students that succeed at four year universities while some just flounder. You really have to be driven to get the most out of a CC, similar to most traditional universities.
The money saved at CC is endearing, but also remember the QUALITY. You can save all the money you want, but a poor education, like anywhere, is a wasted education. Relatively cheap CC tuition paired with a quality department (hopefully your major) with an efficient administration is truly a bang for your buck.
End rant.
I agree the stigma of community colleges are that they are a low-level institution that are a sort of last resort for continuing education.
Bouncing to and fro community colleges and universities, I can say that my experience has been that I have learned a lot more from community colleges than the actual universities. The teachers seemed to care more about students passing their classes and were passionate about the subjects they taught.
This is not to say that all professors at universities aren’t great teachers, but the ratio was distinctive from my experience.