Community College Perception Paper - Essay Example

Community College Perception Those who attend community colleges do so for a varied number of reasons. The foremost being the cost of tuition which is relatively lower than that of their 4 year course counterparts. According to the Association of Community Colleges (Chen Grace “What is a Community College?), the typical tuition credit at a community college costs around $91 while the regular colleges charge as high as $204 per tuition credit. Most students who have not decided on a major yet can also benefit from the fact that community colleges allow them to take general college courses without the burden of immediately choosing a major if they have not done so yet.

This allows them at least 2 years before they finally have to decide upon what direction they truly want to take in college. Aside from undecided students, community college also works well for those students who can only afford to study on a part time basis due to financial constraints. Sources indicate that students who do not have an impressive GPA can also benefit from attending a community college as these schools normally have to accept everybody who enrolls. They have some criteria that students must meet in order to enroll but these are not as rigid as those in a regular college.

In fact, some community college students use the opportunity to increase their GPAs to an impressive level before applying at the 4 year university of their choice. Finally, a student may opt for a community college degree when he is interested in pursuing a career that may not necessarily require the completion of a 4 year course (Chen Grace “What is a Community College?). There is a misconception that the quality of education at a community college is substandard and anybody can enroll and pass without a problem.

Hence the reason why community college students are often thought of as slackers and the schools as diploma mills. The quality of education at a community college is actually comparable to that of a regular college. The students must still do the work in order to make the grade and pass his classes. There is a reason behind the standard of education at a community college. Most of their graduates have a tendency to continue to a 4 year degree course at any of the regular colleges that have an “Academic Passport Program” agreement with the community college.

Keeping the above information in mind, the reason behind the mission and purpose of a community college is very clear. Theirs is a college system that is open to admission of anyone who wishes to earn a college degree but can ill afford to do so at the moment. Their admissions policies are more relaxed than the regular colleges and therefore allows more students to try to reach for their college ambitions. They are easily located within communities and offer affordable college courses that will allow their graduates to begin working while still keeping the option open to complete a more intricate college degree in the future.

The breadth and relevance of their program offerings are competitive to that of the regular colleges and universities in the sense that they offer a 2 year degree version of their full 4 year counterparts. with an associate degree from a community college, a person may begin to apply for entry position jobs in any of the current or upcoming fields of importance. Community colleges do their best to offer curriculums that will run parallel to their full term college counterparts in order to give their graduates a very good shot at gaining entry into their partner schools full term program.

After all, a community college graduate who gets full credit for his associate degree classes goes on to full term college as a Junior student in his field of interest. Works CitedChen, Grace. “What is a Community College?”. About College. Community College Review. 24 Jan. 2008. Web. 7 Dec. 2012.