Overview
What is a community college and why are more students turning to them? Who are some of the most famous community college graduates? Here you’ll find the answers to these questions and more.
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Do you feel stuck in a career you don't enjoy? Are you considering making a switch? If so, keep reading to learn about community college for changing careers.
There comes a point in every person’s life where you just feel ready for a change. Perhaps you’ve been a stay-at-home parent for the past few years or maybe you’ve been working the same job since you graduated high school. No matter what your current situation, it is normal to wonder if there might be something better out there for you.
Unfortunately, suddenly picking up and changing your life isn’t as easy as you might like – especially if you are considering a career change. With the cost of college tuition rising steadily, more college graduates enter the workforce each year with limited work experience and low wage expectations. In many fields, it’s impossible to get a job unless you have a degree but, even so, that degree may not be worth much.
This video by Linda Raynier offers four tips for a successful career change.
So, what do you do if you want to change careers in the middle of your life and you don’t have the knowledge or experience to do it on your own? Consider going to community college. Many community colleges offer prerequisite classes that can prepare you to transfer to a traditional school if you have a particular career path in mind, or you can enter a vocational training program. Either way, choosing community college will save you some money and put you on the path to your new future. Keep reading to learn more.
Thinking of Changing Careers? You’re Not Alone!
Hundreds of
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More and more, students are choosing to go to community college over traditional four-year universities but community colleges still have a bad reputation. Learn why in this informative article.
Choosing a college is a huge decision – one that will affect your career options for the rest of your life. Not only is selecting a college a life-changing decision, but it can be a very challenging decision to make simply because there are so many options. Between state colleges, private colleges, and community colleges, your options are nearly limitless but, for many people, community colleges aren’t even on the radar. Why is it that community colleges get such a bad rap and is a bad reputation deserved?
In this video Aspen Institute College Excellence Program Executive Director Josh Wyner discusses the benefits of community colleges, including how they are preparing a skills-ready workforce.
The Benefits of Community College
Before getting into the reason behind the bad rap community college often receives, it would benefit you to learn some of the reasons why someone might choose a community college over a state or private institution. You will find a list of benefits associated with community colleges below:
- Lower Tuition Costs – The main benefit of attending community college over a state or private institution is reduced tuition costs. While a private college might charge $30,000 or more for a single year, community colleges might charge the same amount (or less) for four years of education. Not only are tuition costs lower at a community college, but the associated fees are lower as well.
- Off-Campus Housing – One of the major
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Many common myths about community colleges exist, but as they continue to diversify and offer cutting-edge programming, two-year institutions are fighting back against these long-held stereotypes.
It’s seen by some as the “easy way out.” Minimal entrance requirements, open enrollment, and a wide variety of basic and remedial courses give some people the impression that the community college experience is one that is not academically rigorous. Although there might have been some element of truth to this stigma a few decades ago, community colleges of today are on the leading edge of education, particularly for new and emerging career areas that are experiencing explosive growth. Yet, many myths about community colleges still exist.
Myth #1: Students Rejected from Four Year Colleges
Perhaps the most pervasive stereotype about students that attend community college is that they are there out of academic necessity, not out of choice. Some people assume that the more stringent entrance criteria held by four-year institutions are just too much for ‘those students’ to meet, forcing them to study instead at a local junior college. While academic necessity is a reason for some students to attend a two-year institution, the overarching reason why students choose to attend a community college is cost-effectiveness.
The per-year cost of a university education is roughly three times that of the per-year cost of attending a two-year school. With many 21st century careers needing only an associate’s degree and increasingly smooth transfer procedures from community colleges to universities, completing the first two years of one’s education at a two-year institution makes a lot of financial sense. The flexible nature of community college scheduling combined with the availability of scholarships and grants means
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A recent study reveals that job applicants with a credential or associate’s degree from a community college have slightly better chances of getting a job interview than students who attend a for-profit college or university. Since community colleges are much more budget friendly than for-profit institutions and have much better job placement results, community colleges are a much better option for employment-minded students.
A recent report by the National Center for the Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research found that employers show little preference between a job candidate with an education from a for-profit institution such as DeVry or the University of Phoenix and one with an education from a public community college. In a study in which researchers tracked the callbacks to 9,000 fictitious job applications, 11.6 percent of employers responded to applications listing a community college education, while 11.3 percent responded to faux applications of students from for-profit colleges. Companies also requested interviews of community college students more often – 5.3 percent – compared to 4.7 percent for applications listing a for-profit college education.
ABC News investigates for profit schools accused of misleading prospective students about job prospects post graduation.
The fabricated applications were submitted with similar credentials, either an associate’s degree, certificate, or some college education, so applicants would not be called because of an imbalance of qualifications. What the study’s findings suggest is similar to what other studies on for-profit education have discovered: When it comes to applying for a job, community college students are as much, if not more attractive to employers as students from for-profit schools.
It is important to note that this particular research does not delve deeper into the process of hiring a new employee and only examines employers’ initial responses. Differences between a community college-educated applicant and a for-profit college applicant are not accounted for here. However, researchers at Boston University have found that
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We look at why millions of Americans are choosing community college over a traditional four-year school today.
Community college enrollment has increased across the country in recent years, and there are many reasons for the influx of students. A sluggish economy, lower tuition rates and high quality education are just a few of those reasons. With community colleges finding a new role in educating students in America today, there are numerous compelling reasons to give these two-year schools another look.
Lower Rates, Less Debt
One of the top reasons students are considering community colleges over four-year schools today is an issue of cost. According to Yahoo Finance, the average annual cost to attend community college during the 2010-2011 school year was $8,734, which included tuition and books, room and board and living expenses. In contrast, the annual cost to attend a four-year school during the same year was $18,133. Even public institutions, which are supposed to offer a more budget-friendly option to four-year students, had an average annual cost of $13,297.
Tuition costs for two-year institutions hover at around $2,000-$3,000 per year. That amount is much more affordable than the tuition at four-year schools, which can run as high as $8,000 or more for public institutions and up to $50,000 or more for private schools. Students that qualify for significant scholarship money may find the four-year schools affordable, but those who don’t get any financial help may be out of luck.
Debt is another concern for students heading to four-year schools. Yahoo also cites the average amount of debt a student is saddled with after
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Recent Articles
Learn about how the failure of the American auto industry, along with President Obama's education initiatives, will translate into increased enrollment in community college campuses.
Learn about a new option students are using to finance their community college education: savings-matching programs.
As tuition rates at community colleges increase nationwide, we share options in financial aid and other tips to make the college experience more affordable, including what the government has proposed to keep community college affordable.
