Many people with big egos consider community college to be for students who aren’t smart. However, nothing is dumber than emptying out your pockets for an education that’s harder to earn a strong GPA in and fails to help students pick a major.
First and foremost, students can obtain an Associate’s Degree in two years of community college, while it takes four years to complete a Bachelor’s Degree at a university. By going to community college, a student is given the option to choose whether they wish to start practicing their career in two years, or to continue in their education towards a Bachelor’s Degree (two options means more freedom to choose).
Oftentimes, community college is referred to with a negative outlook, but community colleges allow a student to explore different classes with a fraction of the cost, which helps them find out what they want to major in. Most university classes are sink or swim ones, and that makes it very difficult to find out what your heart truly wants to do.
Students also establish a deeper bond and connection with their professor at community colleges rather than universities. University professors are more focused on research rather than teaching, while community college professors generally care about their students more due to class sizes.
Hearing negative connotations about community college is something that needs to be stopped. Just because a student prefers to go to an academic place that’s more personal rather than a traditional four-year doesn’t mean they should hear negativity about it.
It truly doesn’t matter where you start, but rather where you finish. Community college is an affordable option that helps you reach whatever level of education or degree you desire, while a traditional university only hands out a Bachelor’s Degree after four years of rigorous work.
It’s no one’s business where one goes to school, whether that’s starting at a community college and transferring to a four-year university, or starting off at a four-year university.
People also neglect the fact that there are many talented people in community colleges, and that not every one of them was lucky enough to get a scholarship to a university or had the funds to go directly to one.
For example, going to community college during the COVID-19 pandemic that started in March 2020 helped those students save on aspects such as housing and other finances. Everything switched to an online format, which resulted in four-year university students to pay thousands of dollars just to sit in their small dorm and take their classes online.
Although many people made fun of others for taking the community college route, the pandemic was a perfect example of community college being the wiser auction because it helps students continue a less rigorous education with a fraction of the cost.
Society needs to stop shaming people for taking the community college route, because it makes no sense to make fun of people who choose an option that has more pros and cons in comparison to a four-year university.
There’s also a stereotype that one is not able to get a college life experience when going to community college – but this is false. Community colleges have many clubs ranging from honor societies to student interests on campus, and there’s many ways to make the best out of your experience at one.
The truth is, there’s not many upsides to jumping into a traditional four-year university. Breaking your back for a factor as big as finances (without any clue of the future format of classes, hence the pandemic) is just dumb as hell.
