Senior year of high school is full of life changing events and decisions. Amongst those decisions is the choice to continue your education after graduation. What makes it even harder is the selection between going to a university and a community college. Both are great ways to broaden your knowledge, but this weird stigma towards community college still exists. And it shouldn’t. Here’s why community college isn’t as bad as it seems:
Opportunity to save money
Let’s start off with the most obvious reason. With the rise of student debt; college in general isn’t cheap. But community college compared to a 4-year university is significantly cheaper. Going to community college erases the option of room & board, which lessens your tuition.
Get gen eds out the way
If you plan on getting your Bachelor’s Degree (which on average takes 4 years), start by taking your gen ed classes out of the way at community college. “Gen eds” are required general education classes which usually take the first 2 years of a Bachelor’s degree anyway. This can be free electives or math classes, history classes, etc. Again, this saves you money! On most occasions, the credits you receive at a community college are transferable to your desired university.
Community college professors = University professors
Community college has a reputation of being less academically appealing. Truth is, some of my professors at university teach part-time at the local community college. I’ve had great and bad professors at both community college and university.
Different class sizes
From my experience in both community college and university, I can recall the class sizes in my community college to be smaller than the ones in my university. This gives students more one-on-one attention from the professor.
Student life exists
When I first thought of community college in high school; in my head I thought it was bland. After experiencing actually going; I was wrong. All colleges hold events to please students. Both have a variety of clubs to join or even create. From career fairs to award shows, community colleges and universities share and emphasize the importance of student life.
The choice between community college and university is tough, but what is most important is to take your time. There’s no need to rush life decisions. I chose to go to community college first because, to be honest, I didn’t know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. What I did know for sure is that I wanted to further my education. And I managed to figure out bits and pieces of what I wanted to do during this process. And if you feel the same way, there’s nothing wrong with going to community college first or even waiting to make the right choice. Education isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.