Education is important for a good future. Students who have an undergraduate degree have better job opportunities as well as pay, thus, many are ready to invest four more years in education after high school. But the decision is not easy. Not only students have to choose a major but also decide whether they should go for a community college first or directly to a university. Both choices have their pros and cons. Students who are mainly attracted to community college, base their decisions on factors such as cheaper cost, easiness of getting high grades, and easiness of getting into a dream university.
Universities usually have larger and more beautiful campuses. Universities have more students and more resources than community colleges. Their resources come from a variety of sources such as state funding, higher tuition and fees than community colleges, and also donations from alumni. They also have to spend more on campus design to attract students. On the other hand, community colleges have smaller campuses and while they may be beautiful, they cannot compete with university campuses most of the time. We can name many universities with beautiful campuses but very few community colleges. Community colleges also have fewer resources because their state and local funding may be smaller than universities because their operation costs are lower. In addition, community colleges also charge less which is one of the reasons it appeals to many students with weak financial condition. Thus, students who don’t have many resources may be better off to attend community college first to save money and/or avoid taking loans. It is a good strategy even for those students who may have good financial situation since they can save the money to attend even better university than their original choice if the better university has high tuition and fees costs.
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"Community College vs. University".
Universities also have nicer classrooms than community colleges. These classrooms may have better technology and may also be bigger than those in community colleges. This is not surprising because more students attend universities as compared to community colleges, thus, class sizes may be bigger on the average. This is not always a better thing because students get more individual attention in smaller classrooms. But on the other hands, teaching quality may be better in universities. But teachers in universities may be stricter when it comes to grading assignments and tests as compared to teachers in community colleges. Thus, those who want to have high GPA may benefit from community colleges where it is easier to achieve higher grades as compared to universities. Thus, there is a compromise between better quality of instruction and high grades. Students may learn more in universities where instructors are of higher quality but they may score better grades with the same level of hard work in community colleges where instructors are relaxed when it comes to grading assignments and tests.
It is also more difficult to get into universities as compared to community colleges. This is especially the case for university with high rankings and lot of demand. In contrast, community colleges often accept most of the students who apply. Many students who don’t get in their dream universities may have other options. They can either go to another university or they can attend community college, score high GPA and try again to get into their dream universities. The chance of getting into a dream university as a transfer student may be higher than getting into a dream university as a freshman. Thus, community colleges give students a chance to get into their dream university if they didn’t succeed in the first place.
While both universities and community colleges offer general education courses, upper level courses are usually offered at universities only. This is why they usually grant undergraduate degrees. On the other hand, community colleges usually offer general education courses only and may offer associate degrees but do not generally offer undergraduate courses. As a result, community college students who want to obtain undergraduate degrees have little choice but to transfer to universities unless they only have an associate degree in mind.
While universities and community colleges may both attract local and international students, the student body of universities is usually more diverse. This is because universities are usually better known at national and international level as compared to community colleges. Many people can name many national universities in America but they will struggle when naming community colleges. It is a high chance that most community colleges they can name may be local. Thus, community colleges have limited brand recognition as compared to universities and as a result, their student body is less diverse than universities. Another reason is that universities are larger and can educate a greater number of students, thus, the chance of having more diverse student body is also high.
It is clear universities and community colleges share both similarities and differences. Universities and community colleges offer general education courses and their students may be both local and international. Universities do tend to be larger, have more beautiful campuses, more expensive, and also have larger classroom sizes on the average. On the other hand, community colleges are cheaper, may make it easier for students to achieve high GPAs and also offer chance to transfer to dream universities if students don’t succeed in the first place.
