Whether you are about to head to college (no matter what your age may be), if you have a child who is about to attend college, or if you know someone who is about to experience this, then this article is for you.
When I was around 17, I applied to several different colleges, but one mistake I made was that I didn’t even give community college a thought.
Unfortunately, there is a stigma attached to going to community college, like thinking it is for those that can’t get into a “regular” college, for those that don’t have enough money, or for those that have no other options. When, in fact, these are all far from the truth.
And, sadly, I bought into these myths and thought I was too good for community college. If you want to save money in college, community college is a great way to do that.
The stigma about going to community college is absolutely ridiculous.
And, I was a young kid, so, of course, I let other people’s opinions get to me. And, I thought everyone was right!
It isn’t just kids that believe those myths about community college, as even adults (parents or returning learners) buy into those myths.
Well, that is a big mistake!
For many people, community college should be their first choice.
College costs are increasing, and they’re not going to stop anytime soon.
According to College Board, the average yearly tuition and fees for a:
- Private four-year college is $32,410.
- Public four-year college for out-of-state students is $23,890.
- Public four-year college for in-state students is $9,410.
Community college, on the other hand, is just $3,440.
Those tuition differences are huge, and just look at how much you could save if you did only your first year at community college!
For many people, going to college means taking out loans, and according to a student survey done by Nerdwallet, 48% of undergrad borrowers said they could have borrowed less and still have afforded their educations. And, 27% regretted going to a school that required them to take out loans to afford their tuition.
I know this regret personally.
I only spent one summer semester taking classes at community college, where I earned 12 credits, and I still regret not taking more. I probably could have saved over $20,000 by taking more classes at my local community college.
Yes, I could have saved that much money!
Whether you are in college already or if you haven’t started yet, taking classes at a community college can be a great way to save money.
Today, I want to talk about common myths I hear about community college, so that I can persuade more people to give it a shot. It can save you so much money, and is a great option for a lot of people.
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Here are common myths about attending community college:
But, all of my credits won’t transfer.
This is the top reason (and myth) I hear for not attending community college.
If you take the correct steps, the credits you earn at a community college will transfer.
If you decide to go to a community college first, always make sure that the 4-year college you plan on attending afterwards will accept all of your credits. It’s an easy step to take, so do not forget to look into this! You should take this step before you sign up and pay for any classes at the community college so that you are not wasting your time.
My four-year university made it easy and had a printed list of what transferred from the local community college – it’s seriously that easy! I’m sure many universities do this as well.
When I took classes for college credit in high school and at the community college, I made sure that all of the classes transferred to the university in which I was getting my degree from.
I have heard too many stories about people not checking this ahead of time and wasting years by taking classes that didn’t transfer, which means you are wasting time and money.
Make sure you get it in writing and talk to your college counselor as well about this. They can help you determine which ones will transfer and provide you proof of transferability.
Also, know that by accepting transfer credits, your four-year university is basically saying “these community college credits mean the same thing here.”
Community college won’t actually save me that much money.
I want to repeat, the average yearly tuition and fees for a:
- Private four-year college is $32,410.
- Public four-year college for out-of-state students is $23,890.
- Public four-year college for in-state students is $9,410.
And, community college is $3,440.
As you can see, college tuition is a significant amount of money, and it is a drastic difference between four-year institutions and community college.
Now, the problem here is that many people “afford” college by taking out student loans, so the amount of money you are paying for college isn’t an immediate thing that you “feel” – because it’s all debt!
Note: If you are a parent and you are thinking about taking on debt to put your child through school, please, please, please consider having them attend community college first. Please, also read Should I Ruin My Retirement By Helping My Child Through College?
The classes won’t be as good.
I’ve heard this community college myth over and over again. Many people think that the classes won’t be “good enough” for them. That is usually far from the case, though. Your first two years, no matter where you go, are most likely going to consist of very generic classes or classes that are similar, if not the same, as ones at the four-year college you are thinking about attending.
It’s usually not until the last two years, after you get those beginner classes and electives out of the way, that your classes really begin to matter for your degree.
And, if you’re afraid you really need more of those beginner classes from a four-year college, I recommend at least taking a summer semester or two at your community college for elective classes. There are usually lots of elective options at community college, and you can at least take those at a more affordable rate. That is exactly what I did – one summer while I was attending my four-year college, I enrolled at the community college for a bunch of electives. I was able to easily, and affordably, knock out a bunch of electives.
My degree will be worth less coming from a community college.
When you graduate with a four-year degree, the school name on your diploma will be the name of the college you graduated from. It won’t say, “graduated from here but took some classes at community college.” This is because your community college credits transferred (if you followed the step above).
So, no worries here.
Nowhere on my college degree does it say that I took some classes at the community college.
Did you attend community college? Why or why not?
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As full time RVers with 2 sixteen year old high school sophomores this article was perfect to read with them.
Even though we both have 4 year degrees we’ve always stressed that their are other less expensive alternatives for education. Thanks for helping us explain this alternative to them
Glad to help!
I attended a community college for the first two years then a four year college for the last two of my undergrad degree years.
On March 4, 2018, the Doctor of Business Administration degree was conferred on me. It’s not where you start, but where you end up AND what you do with what you have. Who will care that I started my college career at a community college? No one! 🙂
Great job!
Yes! CC is a great starting point for anything. And it most definitely does NOT limit your future options!
Michelle,
I attended college in the late 60’s, early 70’s when the cost was still fairly low. I got my MA in Computer Management in the mid-90’s when the costs were starting to rise, and I took on a lot of debt. When I was able I got a teaching position at our local CC and taught for 9 years there.
I loved to teach, the students were highly motivated, and the costs were really LOW for them. Most of my students liked the way I taught and I usually had more request for students to transfer in than I had room to accept them.
I have very few memories of my college classes being enjoyable, so I tried hard to let my students know that they were there to learn the subjects and that questions were not only allowed, but expected from them. Keep motivating your readers to also ask the questions; very few of us are good mind-readers!
Thank you Frank for sharing! 🙂
I went to community college – I spent ~ $4K to get a nursing degree and step into a $50K/year or so job. I have a doctorate now from one of the top 10 nursing programs in the country, and they were more than happy to accept my CC credits 😉 it’s one of the better decisions I’ve made. When my kiddos are of the age, I will most definitely encourage them to consider the CC route. It makes SO MUCH sense.
Great job!
This was so me when I started out. I started out at a private girls college and absolutely hated it. That led me to a bunch of withdrawn courses and my first student loan of $3,500. Thankfully, I had a bunch of scholarships and financial aid when I started out. After that, I moved back home with my head hanging in shame and started taking online courses at the local community college. It was the smartest thing I ever did. Now I tout the benefits of community college ALL THE TIME! It is almost always the way to go!
So great to hear!
Many of the the general ed courses in a large university are taught by teaching assistants or taught by professors in large lecture halls with hundreds of other students. In community colleges, often the classes are smaller and there is more space for class discussions. Students have the opportunity to get to know professors.
Yes, definitely!
I completely agree. Community College and then transfer is a great option to reduce your degree’s cost by probably at least 30%. When we’re talking about thousands of dollars that quickly adds up.
And what better way to start your adult life than with less debt right?! 🙂
Yes, exactly!
I can relate to this all too well. I actually wish I never went to college period, but that’s a whole other story. Instead I went to a private college and skipped community college completely because I thought I was too good also. I only took one community college class during the summer. Can you believe the professor at the community college also taught at NYU???!!! I was learning the same material he taught at NYU for a much much much cheaper price. If only I had gotten off my high horse and went to community college instead I’d be in a completely different place.
Although my school was fairly inexpensive, had I really taken community college seriously, I may have been able to graduate with no student loans. I highly encourage new students to really really REALLY consider going to community college first!
I was like you Michelle, I thought I was too good for a community college and so I didn’t even think about attending one. I went to a four year public university but took me six years to get out. I would have saved so much if I went to a community college right after high school but my ego let me to believe that a university was so much better. Ughhh…
Once my son gets older and wants to go to college, I’m going to have him attend a community college first and once he’s done, he could go to any university right after.
Community college was my way of easing back into higher ed almost 30 years. (I’d had one year of private college before life took an unexpected turn.) In the midst of a protracted divorce in my late 40s, I decided to go for that long-denied degree. If not then, when?
I had some extremely good teachers and some very interesting classes. Better yet: I learned of a three-year scholarship to the University of Washington that was offered ONLY to students from community colleges around the state. Applied, got one and graduated from U.W. debt-free at the age of 52 (better late than REALLY late).
Washington is one of the states with dual enrollment classes: High-schoolers who qualify can take their junior and senior years at a community college, and graduate with both a high-school diploma and a two-year associate’s degree. In other words, they need pay only for two years of higher education after that. Quite a savings.
I did this. I received an Associate’s degree from my local community college and then transferred to a very affordable state school and finished out my education there, earning a Bachelor’s degree. I didn’t go to what was considered to be a “good” school, but I still got a good education and graduated with no debt. I never had to take out a student loan. I have no regrets doing it this way. If someone else has an issue with where I went to college, that’s their problem and I really don’t want to be associated with someone who places such high importance on the status of a college or university. I personally feel that more kids these days should go into trade schools after high school. At least then they would learn skills that will allow them to enter the workforce quickly and earn a good salary. There is a shortage of good tradespeople these days that is only going to get worse.
I did attend community college for a year and a half before transferring to the local State University undergraduate program. Many good reasons for doing so in my case.The Community College tuition was a third of the State University’s tuition and they also offered more night classes for the Freshman and Sophomore courses I needed. I was working full time and had access to a tuition reimbursement program from my employer so the lower cost allowed me to take a full load of credits per semester without busting the tuition reimbursement yearly limit. I was also paying a mortgage and the county taxed my property a very small percentage to pay for the County Community College. So let’s say I got my tax money’s worth back, and then some.
The State University and the County Community College had coordinate the requirements for my degree program (and many others) so that all of my credits would transfer, and they did. I later found out that several of my Community College professors were part of the State University’s faculty. One thing I have to say is that the Community College facility was more modern, cleaner and more inviting that the (old) State University. Oh, yes! I always bought used books when possible and sold most of them back at the end of the semester.
I also took a couple of College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams and earned 12 extra credits towards my program in a couple of hours at $35 per exam at the time. Best credit hours money could buy!
I love this so much. My kids start middle school in the fall, so we don’t yet have to worry about this. I’m hoping by the time we do, the university racket–er, landscape–changes significantly. College prices need to decrease or we need more education and training options to replace the traditional four-year degree.
It pains me to see all these current college students and recent graduates saddled with debt. Even though my kids are still young, I’ve already started having conversations with them about avoiding debt and making wise education choices. I would hate for them to choose to attend a private or out-of-state university for four years and graduate with mounds of debt.Community college for the first two years is such a great option!
I went to community college also. I worked in marketing at a community college for several years and the stigmas addressed in this post were exactly what we were up against when it came to enrollment. I think this is interesting