College education is an investment worth making that can span four, five or six years. Although traditional universities may provide access to four-year degrees, some students prefer starting their academic journey at community colleges instead before transitioning to four-year schools due to small class sizes, affordability and convenience factors.
Community colleges provide higher education through courses and degrees that span multiple disciplines. Usually based on a two-year structure with an emphasis on vocational training and transfer preparation, community colleges don’t directly align themselves with any one university but frequently have agreements in place with local and regional schools that enable their students to transition seamlessly to four year programs without physically moving away from home.
Community colleges can be advantageous in several ways, from smaller class sizes and personalized attention, to flexible coursework schedules designed around work or life commitments. Their student body also tends to be more diverse than most universities – giving students more learning experiences from each other while expanding their perspectives and perspectives.
Community colleges typically provide more challenging classes than four-year institutions, although that may not always be true. Academic standards have steadily risen over recent decades and teachers now more commonly hold master’s or doctoral degrees than ever before in their chosen discipline.
Many people conflate community colleges with remedial or developmental education, and this is certainly true of some institutions designed to help students improve their basic academic abilities. Students typically enroll in remedial classes based on scores on placement tests they take prior to enrolling in regular classes; some remedial classes even count for credit toward an associate degree or postsecondary certificate program.
Few community colleges across the US have recently begun to offer four-year bachelor’s degrees, though this practice remains rare. Most of these institutions offer degrees in applied fields like dental hygiene or wind turbine technology. Community colleges also provide certificates in IT or computer programming, which can be invaluable when entering the workforce quickly, while often being more affordable than pursuing a full degree at a traditional university. Students graduating with two-year degrees at community colleges may qualify for Optional Practical Training (OPT), a work opportunity available to recent graduates in certain fields. However, this option should not be relied upon and must be researched thoroughly prior to making their decision; research also needs to take place regarding for-profit and non-profit community colleges as for-profit ones are generally less reputable and rigorous than public/state institutions.