Community College Essay

After graduating high school a lot of people do not know what their next step in life will be. Some struggle between deciding to go straight into the workforce, joining the military, or continuing their education by going to college. The average person chooses college as their next step. A common issue about going to college is whether to go to a two-year college/community college or straight into a four-year university. I think community college is the smarter and better choice. People fail to realize that going to community college helps you save thousands of dollars. Not only that, but students with undecided majors better find their way while saving money at community colleges. They are very flexible and can provide students with a better transition from high school while benefiting from their smaller class sizes and campuses. As we all know, community college is cheaper to attend than a four-year university. Four-year universities cost thousands of dollars while attending a community college would cost less than half of that. For instance, the average cost of attendance at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) is roughly 5,000 dollars per year for a freshman, compared to the cost of attendance at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) which is about 25,000 dollars a year for freshmen. The cost of attending VCU is fives times as much as attending NOVA where in retrospect the same material is being covered. To break it down, tuition and fees at VCU amount to about 12,000 dollars. One credit costs about 300 dollars while at NOVA a credit costs 150 dollars. Room and board would be 9,000 dollars at VCU, while going to NOVA in most cases you would not have to pay to live at home if you are a freshman. Books would still be around the same price because books in college are expensive regardless. Other expenses would vary depending on what a student would need. Looking back on it the cost of going to a community college saves you a tremendous amount of money and would be worth it in the long run. Growing up people would talk about community college as if it were basically the thirteenth grade. In a sense would not that benefit a student more? Classes at four-year universities can sometimes be overwhelming, having hundreds of students in one lecture class. With classes getting hard from the transition of high school to college, would not a student want smaller class sizes? It only seems reasonable. By having smaller class sizes a student would naturally be able to learn better than in a class full of 300 people. Lecture classes can be long, tiring, and filled with millions of questions. In bigger classes some communication issues might occur and information might not always get to a student depending on their seating. Also the professors might not always get to a question that a student may have which can get very frustrating. Having smaller class sizes, everything is right there in front of a student. The professor is there for easier access to questions, class discussions would be more beneficial and easier to get involved with, and a person would get to know their classmates more. Smaller class sizes would help students gain a better learning experience. Many people go into college undecided on what they want their major to be. Studies prove that 50% of students who declared their majors change them after their first year according to Dr. Firtz Grupe of mymajors. com. Some students even change their majors up to three times throughout college. Going to community college can help a student find out their major while saving money. When a student changes majors there are always some complications. Some classes that were needed for their previous major have nothing to do with the current major that they just switched to. The money that was paid for those credits is, for the most part, wasted. That can be very taxing on a student’s financial income. If these problems occurred to a student who was attending a four-year college they would have wasted thousands of dollars compared to if a student changed majors at a community college. Even though money is lost in both cases, the amount of money lost at a community college is far more manageable than losing thousands of dollars at a four-year college. Think about it this way, would you rather lose 100 dollars or 10,000? Community college is a great way for students with undecided majors to discover what they want to do while not losing as much money and time. Classes at community colleges are very flexible and can help students manage their classes around other things. People who attend community colleges sometimes seek jobs while in school. One thing that could be very frustrating for a student would be having class at a time that conflicts with a work schedule. That could be a problem if a student at a four-year university had a job because not as much night classes are offered at four-year colleges. Community colleges have better options in that case. A student working a regular 9-5 schedule would find problems trying to go to school after work. At community college classes could easily be taken after work with more night classes being offered at a community college. Students can go to work then school or vice versa, go to school in the morning then work some time after without any hardships. Having flexible classes are always a benefit because they provide more options and having options are always a good thing. Community colleges provide an easier transition from the laid back high school environment to the stressful college life. As Liz Addison says, it helps students begin. High school classes are easier compared to classes in college. Grading wise and tests, quizzes, etc. Community college can help ease a student into the college atmosphere. That classes are not that much easier than that of a community college but not as hard either. It is a step up from high school in terms of difficulty and helps to better transition students into the university world. Less stress is involved and things are more manageable. Some people argue many things about community colleges. The main thing often associated with community college is commuting . People say that commuting to community college cost so much money in regards to gas. Community colleges are in your community and most of the times have ways to get you to and from school. They are called community colleges for a reason. All the money that a student would save from not going to a four-year college would cover the cost of gas easily. Also most community colleges have operating bus systems and car pooling is always an option. Another thing people try to argue about going to a community college is that a person will not gain a true college experience. Some people go through life and do not experience many things like never being on a plane, not having a dog, or even never going to a football game. That experience is not something that a student would need to have to become successful in life. The rewards of getting to where you want to be in life are far greater than not getting a full college experience. In the long run you will make up for the experiences you have missed by gaining better ones. Going to a two-year college first before transferring to a four-year university pays off in the long run. People either do not know the benefits or are two proud to attend a community college. Money is saved, the learning experience is better, the transition from high school is easier and community colleges help undeclared majors find their majors. Seems like the smart way to go.