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Ode to Community College

Great question. This subject is my life’s blood.

There is a difference between community college and university, but they’re not different in the ways you might expect. Community colleges are stigmatized as “lesser institutions,” but in my experience, this stigma has nothing to do with the actual quality of education you will receive. It speaks more to the elitism rife within higher education. Community colleges are accessible institutions, and for a variety of reasons, some people have a problem with that.

I’m writing my senior thesis on this topic, and I could write all day long about the socio-cultural and policy differences between the types of institutions, but that’s not really your question, is it? You want to know what will happen when you, anon, might attend such a college. For that, I offer my own experience.

When I first enrolled in community college, I believed in the mythos surrounding such an institution, and I was heartbroken that I’d been consigned to the fate of attending a “lesser institution.” As soon as I stepped foot on that campus, my mentality started to change: I was excited to attend what I could clearly see had been a “real college” all along.

An associate’s degree amounts to 50% of a bachelor’s degree. These are two-year programs, and you’ll mostly be taking the same general education courses that you would at a university. However, at a large university (e.g. mine has over 30,000 students), the class sizes for these gen eds can be significantly larger, and many students benefit from more personalized instruction. Not all universities are quite as big as mine, but many of the public universities (these tend to have less expensive sticker prices) are larger than most community colleges.

Community college costs so much less than university, it’s almost impossible to waste your money, but I understand that the stigma is daunting. However, when you get your bachelor’s degree, you will have attended and graduated from a “real college.” You can therefore demonstrate perseverance having “moved up” to a “greater” institution. To be clear, not all community college students transfer to a university. A certificate or associate’s degree is enough for a lot of jobs, particularly if you’re interested in any of the trades or areas in the service industry, or paraprofessional careers like paralegals, dental technicians, and nurses. My associate’s degree carries personal, educational and financial significance.

My advice for combating the stigma?

Wear this identity proudly. You are attending an institution of higher learning that welcomes so many different kinds of people into a space of growth and intellectual development.

Try to get good grades. This will also help you get into more selective universities when you transfer. Recent research has found that transfer students from community colleges make especially motivated university students.

Seek opportunities to build your resume. If, for example, a prospective employer wants to sneer at your education, make them think otherwise. I was a member of the speech team, the school literary magazine, concert band, a mentorship program, the honors program, and I worked retail on the side. You don’t have to do All of The Things like I did, but pick something you enjoy and put your energy into it!

Take courses that transfer to universities. If you aspire to transfer to a university, this is important. Enjoy your time at your school, but be on the lookout for universities you’re interested in. This often requires researching universities themselves, looking into your state’s transfer policies, and using Transferology.com to make sure you’re on track to transfer.

Whether you decide to go to community college or university is ultimately up to you and your personal/financial situation. My answer is very biased, but frankly, I have a lot of academic knowledge in this area as well. Plus, for as many biased answers as you get about the stigma surrounding community college, I wish more people were outspoken about the benefits of community colleges.