The face of college education in America is changing, especially on community college campuses. While community colleges were once unfairly labeled as “13th grade,” these two-year institutions now provide opportunities for high-achieving students to challenge themselves. Indeed, many high school valedictorians and honors students are enrolling in community colleges after highschool.
Community Colleges Increasingly Serving the Best and the Brightest
Prompted partly by economic concerns, several top high school students are choosing to forego enrollment at prestigious four-year universities in favor of spending their first two years in an honors program at a community college. Indeed, the savings can be dramatic, and these students can save $80,000 by attending community college first instead of a private college.
These honors programs, most highly selective and academically rigorous, are designed to provide academically talented students with intellectual challenges for an affordable price. They are more popular now than ever.
This video explains honors programs.
Honors Programs at Two-Year Colleges Are Thriving
A recent article in the Washington Post reported that applications to community college honors programs are growing quicker than general applications, which are also rising. Honors programs of particular note include:
* The Montgomery Scholars program of Maryland's Montgomery College. This highly selective program, which is ten years old, has only 25 seats available and received a record 275 applications for Fall 2009, according to the Post.
*
