5 Reasons To Attend Community College
For the past few years, fewer people have gone to college now than they have before. Things like enormous student debt and no guarantee of high-paying jobs are just a few reasons for the decline.
And it’s understandable. In addition to finances, you may not know what degree you want to get, so why invest in a university?
However, that doesn’t mean there still aren’t benefits to college, and many jobs require at least a bachelor’s degree. But if you’re concerned about the cost or time spent in a traditional university, consider community college. I took that path before getting my bachelor’s degree and have no regrets. Here are 5 reasons to consider community college:
1. You save money.
Usually, community colleges are cheaper than universities because they have fewer overhead costs. For example, most community colleges don’t have dorms or meal plans, and they usually have extracurricular activities that also require funding. That, combined with an associate’s degree costing less, makes community college cheaper, and therefore more accessible, than traditional 4-year universities. Many community college graduates have less student debt, or none, depending on the path they take.
2. You can finish in two years.
Oftentimes, you can graduate from community college in 2 years, which is at least half the time it usually takes to get a bachelor’s degree. While associates are lower than bachelor’s, it’s still a form of higher education, and plenty of jobs will take an associate’s. If you go to a trade school (where you get hands-on training for a specific job type, like cosmetology), you can finish within 2 years and immediately go into the workforce. Not only do you save on student loans and other costs, but you can go straight to work. Those courses are very hands-on in preparing you for the job you’re studying, which means less time on books and tests and more time, say, in the kitchen for culinary school.
3. You can transfer credits to university.
Many community colleges allow you to transfer credits to a university, so if you want to get a bachelor’s degree alongside your associate’s, you can! If you’re able to take prerequisites to a 4-year degree, then you have fewer general education courses to take when you transfer to a university. That way, you can spend more time taking classes in your major and studying what you want rather than getting over the hurdle of gen ed classes you have to take but have no interest in.
4. Your classes are smaller.
Many students do better in smaller class sizes since the professor can give more one-on-one attention when they have, for example, 20 students instead of 100. And most community colleges have fewer students than 4-year universities do, which means you have a better chance of catching your professor after class or getting a chance to ask questions in class.
5. You meet different kinds of people.
Universities tend to have more college students between the typical college ages, usually around the ages of 18-24. With community college, however, you have more people of all sorts of ages and backgrounds—veterans deciding to go to school, retirees who are interested in taking a certificate from the community college, and a 4-year transfer student. Community college shows you that you don’t have to be a certain age to go to college, regardless if you’ve had a career or never went to higher education before. It allows you to meet people of all sorts of backgrounds and makes college more accessible as a whole.
While community college isn’t for everyone, it’s definitely for many people—and it’s become an increasingly attractive option as student loans wrack up and people pursue nontraditional 4-year degrees to train for specific jobs in the workforce. Plus, some people are looking to take certificates for fun, like learning Spanish, so it’s not limited to getting a degree. If you’re considering a 4-year university, training for a specific job like construction, or just have an interest, look into community colleges around your area and see what they have to offer!