Community College Facts: Things You May Not Have Known

The Community College was an American creation to make college available to a large group of people of varying financial and social backgrounds. Did you know that community college students outnumber students from four year universities? Community colleges are becoming a very popular alternative to traditional four year universities.

Community colleges attract people for a wide number of reasons. The reasons to attend a community college are as diverse as the students who attend them. Open admissions, affordable tuition, location, a wide selection of classes, a range of class times and excellent professors are all reasons why individuals choose to attend a two year college.

It is because of this atmosphere of acceptance that community colleges contain a diverse group of people from all ages, wealth or financial need, academic level, race, as well as international students. Community colleges are often an oasis of unique individuals from all walks of life.

International students find community colleges appealing because of the open admissions policy. All students have to do is prove high school completion, English proficiency, and the finances to pay for school.

Community colleges provide remedial math and English classes to help students who need to learn the basic skills to succeed in college. In addition, ESL (English as Second Language) classes are offered to help international students and immigrants living in the United States learn to write and speak English to integrate into basic society.

Higher education is not the only goal offered to community college students. Many offer vocational degrees for those who have no desire to attend a four year university.

Community colleges provide services for students not only to do well in the classes they attend, but to plan schedules, and ultimately transfer. Community college professors are often at or above the level of university professors. How can that be? At universities, professors are busy researching and publishing papers while giving lectures and grading papers. There is no doubt their attention in diverted from teaching.

Community college professors do not have the pressure of publishing writings and researching. Instead they are dedicated to teaching students. Community colleges often have the best teachers in the country. In addition, class sizes are often smaller as opposed to freshman classes at public universities that can house upwards of 300 students.

Two year colleges often have transfer agreements with four year universities for each state. A step by step course guideline for each major can usually be found in the transfer office or at your schools website.

And what about the quality of students? For one thing, the diversity of age means that the average student is 28 years old. Older students can often think more critically about things, bringing a unique and well thought out perspective to class that a freshman class at a four year university may lack. Community colleges also have Phi Theta Kappa, an international honor society that recognizes superior students.

In the end, studies have shown that community college students who transfer to a four year university do as well or better than their peers who went straight to a four year university. So if you had any negative notions about two year universities, I hope they have been dispelled.