A few reasons why one should choose community college before jumping straight into a 4 year is you save a lot of money, you get to explore your passions, and enjoy smaller class sizes.
Generally speaking, most students tend to view community college as a stepping stone to a university. Many students go to community college because they either don’t get into their dream school, so they enroll in community college with the goal of transferring out, or they just don’t get into any university at all and they have no other option but to enroll into community college. Whatever the situation may be, in this post I will discuss why attending a community college before transferring to a four year university can be a smart move.
SAVE MONEY
The first and possibly the biggest reason one should attend community college before transferring is for the cost savings. Community college tuition is way cheaper than a four year university. Tuition at state universities tends to cost over $10,000 a year, whereas private universities can be well over $30,000. Community colleges, however, are significantly less, usually costing around $3000 to $4000 a year.
When I was applying to universities during my senior year in high school, I remember how worried I was about the tuition, especially because I wanted to attend a university where I could dorm and live on my own, which comes with another set of expenses that might cost more than the tuition itself. So I decided to go the community college route and I was able to experience all aspects of college, while saving money!
EXPLORE YOUR OPTIONS
When students first enter college, they typically have a very vague, or zero, idea of what they want to study. Going to a community college allows you to take classes that you’re interested in and truly explore all of your options. When you attend a university, you might feel pressured to immediately commit to a major that you might not even fully be interested in, because you won’t want your expensive tuition dollars going to waste. Community colleges allow you to explore your options and all of the classes that spark your interest, without having to worry about paying a crap ton of money!
This was my favorite part of community college. As an 18 year old entering college, I had zero idea on what I wanted to study. My first two semesters were spent mainly taking a bunch of elective courses, which ultimately helped me determine what I was passionate about. I didn’t have the financial pressure of having to structure my class schedule in a way that ensured I would complete my degree quickly, so I can save money. Instead, I was able to enjoy my time in college and take all the courses that sounded interesting to me, before I made the decision to fully commit to a major that I thoroughly enjoyed studying. I was also able to do this while only paying a fraction of the cost that my peers were paying at a 4 year university!
SMALLER CLASS SIZES
Although this won’t always be the case, community colleges usually have smaller class sizes than universities. This allows you to get to know your classmates and your professors, which can be very beneficial to you, not only academically, but socially as well. Being close with your classmates will allow you to collaborate and work together to be successful in that course. Building a good relationship with your professor is always great too, because it will allow you to get personalized attention and feedback.
This was another great reason I enjoyed community college. Most of the courses that I took in college were all very small in size. I would estimate around 15-20 students on average per class. I think this was a big reason as to why I was successful. I was ALWAYS able to speak to my professors and ask question after question until I fully understood the course work for every class that I was struggling with.
TRANSFER AGREEMENTS
A lot of community colleges have transfer agreements with universities. This will allow the transfer process to be much easier and more straightforward. It will give you peace knowing that you are guaranteed to accomplish your goal of entering a four year university if you just complete the requirements.
This was another big one for me. When I attended community college, there was a program that I believe was called, Associates Degree for Transfer. This was a program that allowed me to earn an Associates Degree while guaranteeing me into a university. As soon as I learned about this, I definitely took this path and I was able to go to my dream school!
These are just a few reasons as to why community college is the right choice! If you’re in a situation where you’re not sure if you should choose CC over University, I hope these points helped with your decision making process!