Now that we are coming up on spring time, a lot of high school seniors are narrowing down their list of where they want to go to college. Graduation is getting closer and the reality of having to pick a college to go to is upon you. Maybe you’re not ready to pick the place where you will spend the next four years of your life. Maybe you don’t have any idea what to study. Maybe you don’t even know if college is for you. That’s totally and completely okay.
If you are worried about financing your post-secondary education, you are not alone. Many students have that same worry. College costs are rising, and community college is a good option, at least for the first two years of a degree. Here, I am going to explain, in as much detail as I can, why you should at least consider community college.
If you are worried about financing your post-secondary education, you are not alone. Many students have that same worry. College costs are rising, and community college is a good option, at least for the first two years of a degree. Here, I am going to explain, in as much detail as I can, why you should at least consider community college.
1. You save money.
Who doesn’t love money? Plus, if you are in the group of people who have the burden of paying for college entirely on your own-for which I feel bad-the more money you save, the better. Tuition is much cheaper at a community college than at even the cheapest four year university. You also don’t have to account as much for room and board. Your parents may charge rent, but no way would it be more than room and board at a university. Plus, with the flexibility offered at community colleges, it is much easier to work a part time job.
2. You don’t have to fit the stereotypical mold of who goes to community college.
One of the greatest things about community college is that you are in class with people from all walks of life. People of all age ranges, academic backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses, etc. will be found at a community college-yes, even people who are considered traditional college students.
3. You have many opportunities.
Even if you go to a relatively small community college, there will be resources and classes there that you won’t find at a four year school. Most community colleges have at least a few technical career programs. A lot of those aren’t offered at a state or private university. You might find that you are really interested in cosmotology or radiological imaging. You (probably) won’t be able to study trades like that at a four year school.
4. You can earn *a* degree quicker.
Since graduates of a community college earn associates degrees, they usually take two years of full time study to complete: half the time it takes to earn a bachelors degree. Now, associates degrees rarely receive the same prestige as bachelors, but if something comes up that derails your plans of finishing a bachelor program, you still have that associates to fall back on. It shows that you started and finished something. Basically, it looks better than simply a couple years of college.
5. You can find out what you really want to do.
It is really hard for most people to know what they want to do when they haven’t had the chance to experience college first hand. It might take a semester or two of exploring your interests to figure out what you really want to spend the bulk of your waking hours doing.
Remember, these are just my opinions and based off of my own experience in community college. There is nothing wrong with going straight to a four year university if that is what you know you want. I wrote this post so that people who are still weighing their options have somewhere to go to learn about community college from someone who has been there done that.
Thanks for reading!