It has become common today to dismiss the idea of going to community college because people wont think much of you and it is a waste of time and money taking classes the complete opposite. Although people might think it is a waste of time and money, community college can actually save you money and help you discover what you want to major in and get your degree in showing it doesn’t have to be a waste of time compared to going straight to a university. Community colleges have come as a result of at least seven different sources of educational revolution (The History of Community Colleges). These seven different forms of education were: community boosterism, the rise of the research university, the arrival of secondary education, the professionalization of schooling to become and educator, the professional education movement, an open access to higher education, and the rise of adult education (The History of Community Colleges). Of course, many will probably disagree with this assertion that the worth of college tuition is not worth being in debt forever after college. They will point out that however having gone to a university and getting a Bachelor’s degree helped them get a good job and pay off student loans. Although it is true that some college graduates with Bachelor’s degree do find good jobs and are able to pay off their student loans, it does not show that the average national debt for college graduates of the class of 2013 is 27,670 dollars (Susannah Snider). Actually, according to the U.S. News 87 percent of the class of 2013 at St. Francis University in Pennsylvania borrowed money for schooling, and the average debt is over 50,000 dollars. These struggles out of college may become extremely mighty, plus putting it on a 22 or 23 year old with no job yet makes it even
The final assumption that is not as expressed as often is the thought that Community colleges have low academic standards. However, this is just simply not true. students usually have to take placement tests in order to qualify for college level work. Technical and special programs have high standards and students compete to enroll. Going off that, community colleges just offer extra support to students to see them succeed.
For something seemingly so obvious, it is often left out of the conversation. Rick Perlstein wrote about the change in “student life” and how it is “no longer all that important”(Perlstein), and Liz Addison wrote mostly about culture and the available beginning. Both fail to give justice to the central idea of increasing your level of education. Due to this idea, I disagree with part of Addison’s argument. If the purpose is to increase education, then how can two years be better than four? Technically speaking, an associate degree from community college is half of what a bachelors degree would be from a four year university. While everything has a starting point, where it finishes if often what is most important. The value of a start in community college, in my opinion, is that you can eventually get into a four year school you could not previously have gone to. I imagine Addison brings up her degree from the university she attended before mentioning the two community colleges she
One major decision one must make after exiting high school is whether to go to a university or go to community college. In the article “Two Year Are Better Than Four,” written by Liz Addison. She expressed her opinion on the significance of community colleges in comparison with the university. She stated that community college do not receive the acknowledgment and appreciation that they deserve. “what’s the matter with colleges?,” (Addison 255). although, there is a lot to agree with within the article there are some faulty statements that two year colleges don’t offer the best education possible and that community college are more engaging and individualized for a student and the price is also much less expensive than a university education.
“The Benefits Of Attending Community College: A Review Of The Evidence.” Community College Review 39.1 (2011): 46. Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File. Web. 30 Sept. 2016. This article’s primary focus is on the benefit of attending a community college for two years. The information presented in this article supports that a college degree affects much more than we might think. People with only a high school degree have changes in health, criminal activity, well-being, and welfare reliance. These benefits are just as important as economic earning gains. These findings make the concept of college even more appealing to one’s
In comparison to a 4-year university a 2-year community college is much more affordable option. Even if a student ultimately transfers to a university, those first two years at a community college can still save a student ten-of-thousands, and some cases hundreds-of-thousands, of dollars, “In 2011-2012, after accounting for grant aid from all sources, net tuition and fees… at public two-year public colleges was effectively zero for students from the two lowest income quartiles.”(Jenkins). Along with saving students money overall, community colleges allow students to work while going to school, so it gives students the pros of both not going to college, and going to college. The one downside of community college is the lack of degree options, but there is still a large selection of degrees that can be acquired at community college, just not as many as a 4-year university. When comparing all three of these options, the community college option seems like the only option where the pros heavily outweigh the cons while with the other options, the cons can easily overpower the
Mark Kantrowitz indicates in his article, Why the Student Loan Crisis Is Even Worse Than People Think, that “Student loan debt is increasing because government grants and support for postsecondary education have failed to keep pace with increases in college costs”(Why 1). This means that the government no longer covers for college tuition fees. College graduates are 20% more likely to work at a job that is outside of their major by the debt they are in. Kantrowitz also mentions that “students who borrow to attend college, it appears that more than a quarter (27.2%) of them are graduating with excessive debt” (Why 1). In reality, leads to student saying that the financial cost was worthless, ending up with a job that is especially not what they went to school
Community colleges have been tool used by many American students and families as a means of affordable education for better life for themselves and their children. Community colleges has played a big role in helping middle and lower income families who can 't afford to go to 4 years colleges ,the chance to educate themselves and their children. Community college was created in order to give basic liberal , technical and vocational education to all willing to be educated.
One statistic that Owen and Sawhill presented was “Hamilton Project research shows that 23- to 25-year-olds with bachelor’s degrees make $12,000 more than high school graduates but by age 50, the gap has grown to $46,500 (Figure 1). When we look at lifetime earnings—the sum of earnings over a career—the total premium is $570,000 for a bachelor’s degree and $170,000 for an associate’s degree. (Owen, Sawhill pg 641). Owen and Sawhill also mention that “with tuitions rising faster than family incomes, the typical college student is now more dependent than in the past on loans, creating serious risks for the individual student and perhaps for the system as a whole, should widespread defaults occur in the future. Federal student loans now total close to $1 trillion, larger than credit card debt or auto loans and second only to mortgage debt on household balance sheets” (Owen, Sawhill pg 642). Basically, what the authors are saying is college is expensive, but for some career paths, the training and education received in college is necessary to have that job and the benefits outweigh the costs. With a high paying career where a college education is necessary, paying off student loans is no problem. On the other hand, people who go after low paying careers that don’t necessarily need a college degrees,
Facing something that we want to judge, we can not only find its disadvantages, then ignore its advantages and values, and that’s the same for colleges. As a matter of fact, we need to face everything with fair judgements rather than prejudices. Community college or two-years college is good for us to choose; don’t let the prejudices influence our
For the past few decades, receiving a college education has been a stressed importance in today’s society. However it is often misunderstood that attending a 4-year school is the best and only way to go. Following this belief, many students attend these schools with out being academically, financially, or mentally prepared. Unfortunately students like this have failed to over look the more realistic options available to them, such as community college. Junior college is a resource available to anyone regardless of his or her previous academic performance. The variety of courses and the inexpensive tuition gives students flexibility to explore the many options presented to them. Though Universities hold more prestige, community colleges provide endless opportunities for students who aren’t fully prepared for a 4-year education
While universities require their applicant to be somehow professional before they admit them, community colleges allow their students to enter the college experience as rookies-inexperienced- and give them the opportunity to reach professionalism. Addison herself writes “you will grow up with your first English class a bit more with your first psychology class, a whole lot more with your first biology, physics, chemistry”(257). Addison’s point is that community college are built in a way to help its student start from where they finished high school without having to get use to a whole new environment. How can we expect an adolescent to focus on their studies while they have a lot of changes going on in their life? Is it even possible for them to succeed with all those changes going on in their life? In Addison’s perspective, that is why community colleges still matter, because they can help those student, who have to learn to live like adults while their academic success is not affected.
For those that could not undergo the college experience otherwise, doors leading to opportunity are opened. However, I do not share Addison’s view that attending community college is the best method for anyone. Whether college or community college is chosen, comparisons cannot be properly made. It is difficult to determine which of the two choices is better because every person and their situation is different, requiring different methods. I gravitate towards the position of avoiding community colleges if possible, but as stated before, college is not always possible. Private colleges tend to have higher academic standards, for everyone earned the right to be admitted. This community of common ground and similar academic ability creates an atmosphere that is comfortable, yet motivated. I agree with Addison and Hacker and Dreifus in the sense that education needs improving, but I do not agree with their entire view. It is impossible to create a perfect form of education because not every student is the same. A different education than the current is not always the answer because someone will always be placed at a disadvantage. In conclusion, I strongly encourage the option of attending private college; however, community colleges can serve as a wonderful, life-saving alternative for those who desire the college experience, but are unable to attend
A $60 billion plan is being invested by Barack Obama for two free years of community colleges for American citizens in order to help with financial need. That means Obama is trying to get community colleges to be free to students that need extra support as they are living or growing up in an unstable house. Yet, community colleges being free would cause problems for many students that do not belong there. Money then would be given to all the students that are attending a community college, even though some of the students do not need extra support, nor want to be there in the first place. By doing research, it shows that community colleges are affordable to those that put forth an effort and universities would be shied away due to the price
What if one day the tuition of your community college was to become free? If you couldn 't afford college would you go? That’s exactly what President Obama is trying to propose in his State of The Union speech on January 20th 2015. In his words he claims “to lower the cost of community college, to zero”. I am a community college student freshman at Frederick Community College. Being a community college student I value my education and feel if this new proposal is to be put in place there will be people who don’t want to be there just like high school. Community college is something that runs in my family as my two cousins have attended a junior college in the past. I am in my first year at community college and can say that it is a lot different from high school as far as the expectations and work load. There are essentially some problems with this new proposal. Once I heard that President Obama
Although they are both a lot alike, there are many differentials of the two. Universities are known for having large campuses; consequently, resulting in large number of students in each class. While Universities can range from having 20-1000 participants at a time, community colleges usually have no more than 50 participants in a class. As a result of such a large class size, it is harder for a professor to be able to develop the one-on-one time with a student. Due to most co...