The Benefits of Community College

One of those accepted trains-of-thought that as a kid I never seemed to argue with was the perception that "after you graduate from high school, you'll go to college!" In a family that had its roots deeply set in a blue-collar work ethic, "going to college" was what separated those who "have it" and those who "didn't." Never mind that in order to "have it" my father had to get a second mortgage or work three jobs or whatever it took to send me to school. Because the bottom line was an unwritten one -- going to college cost money. An affordable alternative should have been attending community college, but the concept of community college really was more akin to something you did if you couldn't hack it in a university. And I'd be damned if I was going to college and not succeed.

Needless to say, my thinking regarding community college was a bit off kilter.

Now that I'm older and wiser (well, older anyway) I can tell you that a community college is a veritable doorway to opportunity. Community colleges are centers of educational opportunity - an American invention that put publicly funded higher education at close-to-home facilities.

These days, more than half of all first-time college freshman attend community colleges. A colleges' accessibility is facilitated by open admissions policies, not to mention low tuition. Consequently, community college enrollments reflect the rich diversity of our nation, and campuses are populated with people of all ages, ethnic and cultural heritages.

Bur even now, in the 21^st century, community colleges don't get nearly the positive press they deserve. There are a lot of reasons you may consider attending a community college. In fact, community colleges were developed, and still exist, for two major purposes:

1) To serve as a bridge from high school to college by providing courses for transfer toward a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) or Bachelor of Science degree (B.S.) Bet you didn't know four out of 10 college-bound high-school graduates start their college education this way.