What are Community Colleges?

13 comments

1. They are local colleges that often just offer 2 year degrees. The environment is closer to High School though they treat you like adults (less rules) Its often a place where people can take classes for enrichment. Community Colleges accept anyone who is eligible. They are oftrn much cheaper, ~~there is no tuition but~~ you have to pay per unit and have to buy books though some places are getting rid of those costs.

   Edit: I should point out the teachers at CC are likely better because they are hired to teach while professors at universities are often hired for research and often do teach as well as part of their employment but thats not why they are there.

2. They offer a combination of general education courses (which could be useful in and of themselves or transferred as credits to a more expensive university) and vocational education. Sometimes pure vocational education + public high school will leave a person less well equipped for the career they want, but a university bachelor’s degree is too much and an expensive burden.
   Think dental hygienist or advanced welding- society wants and needs people very well informed with the skills, but no need to burden them with higher debt, 4 more years in school instead of 2, and often poorly delivered poorly tested irrelevant shit.

3. Small collages that are for the local community.

4. CCs are public institutions, which are directly funded by that community (along with tuition and fees). They generally offer two types of programs – accredited academic courses toward an Associates and/or transfer on to a university and trades/technical courses/certification. They are not research oriented institutions. Academically the courses are limited to prep and lower level (0, 100, 200) courses and thus academic programs are the equivalent of the first two years of at a university. Most CC systems are partnered with a state public university and offer direct 2+2 programs with that institution (which avoids having to go back and take missing lower levels or retaking courses that don’t marry up). However being accredited allows transfer of credits to other accredited universities.

   On the tech/trade side of things programs exist to launch people into trade apprenticeships or earn industry standard technical certs (like CCNA, MSCE). But even if not pursuing a cert one can often take courses like welding to learn a new skill.

   Cost of CC’s vs universities is almost universally significantly cheaper. For example, in-district (Bexar County resident) tuition at Alamo Colleges in San Antonio is $109/credit. Additionally, Alamo Colleges has a program that provides 100% free last dollar tuition for all Bexar County high school graduates starting with the class of 2023.

5. Generally they’re affordable public colleges designed to serve the local community with GEDs (for adults who didn’t graduate High School), 2 year associate degrees (often prepping students for transferring), and various certifications and accreditations for trades and other professions you don’t need a degree for.

   They’re meant to be utilitarian and be accessible for all people, especially residents who might not be able to get into an actual college or university.

   Often they offer more night classes, targeting adult learners. Also popular among some students who want to save some money getting basic courses out of the way before moving onto a 4 year degree at a college or university (which almost always are going to be more expensive).

6. Here in North Carolina we have 58 colleges in the state community college system. They offer everything from literacy to GED, apprenticeship programs, training in trades like electrician and autobody, up to associate degrees.

   The colleges all offer classes from a course library maintained by the state so you know ahead of time which classes transfer into the 16 schools in the UNC system. It’s common to do 2 years at community college then 2 years at a state university to get your bachelor’s degree.

   In other states they are sometimes referred to as junior colleges (juco) and historically some were referred to as trade schools. The ones in NC generally do not offer any on campus housing (nearly all of the state is within 30 minutes of a campus) and a few do offer sports. The price per credit hour is lower than for the state universities.

7. Small colleges within a ‘community’, often funded by that same community, that offer education in certain trades leading toward certification, or if a student finds four years of university education too expensive, they can go for two years, get an associates degree and transfer to a four year college without having to go the full four years. My niece went to a community college for two years and was able to transfer to George Mason University where she only had to attend for two years.

8. They have an academic side, the first two years of college, and a vocational side, preparation and certification for hundreds of trades and specialized careers. They are much cheaper than universities, open to all, and attended by people of all ages.

9. There is also a distinction between Technical Colleges and Community Colleges, and sometimes the words are used interchangeably, because they’re pretty similar. Both of them differ from universities in that they (usually) only grant 1 and 2 year degrees (technical diplomas and associate degrees respectively), and they usually do not have dorms and have much fewer student programs and extra curriculars. They are also usually much cheaper, often about half the price of university, and many of them have agreements with nearby universities that allow their credits to transfer to be used towards a bachelor degree. The application process is also simpler and non-competitive, essentially anyone who has a high school diploma or GED will get in if they want to. That is also another thing they have, GED programs, which are programs designed for people who didn’t finish High School to get an equivalent diploma to a high school diploma. Like universities, classes have weekly schedules, usually meeting between 1 and 3 days a week, for anywhere from 1 to 3 hours, and most coursework is done outside of the classroom.

   Now for differences between Community College and Technical College, usually it’s down to academics. Community Colleges are usually more geared toward people who want to transfer to a 4 year University, and they focus on those general education classes that are required for a bachelor degree. At a Technical College, the classes are more hands on and often focus on skills to be able to get a job immediately after graduation. There are fewer general education classes (though there still are some), so most of your classes are specific to your degree. Technical Colleges will usually have programs in the Trades (to be an Electrician, HVAC tech, etc), automotive and other mechanics, nursing, medical technologists, law enforcement, computer programming and networking, early childhood education, cosmetology, business, accounting, cooking, and many other fields similar to that.

   Now to address that “usually” I kept repeating over and over, there aren’t any hard standards as to what constitutes a technical college or community college, so there are always exceptions, for instance some technical colleges are as expensive as a university, and some community colleges do grant 4 year degrees, but these are the exceptions, not what is expected.

10. You can get a college degree there, unlike high school. They’re usually 2 year or Associate degrees but you can always go to a 4 year college to complete your bachelors

11. They are institutions which are usually a sort of combination of a vocational/technical institution and a university. They typically do not offer bachelor degrees except for in technical fields, especially nursing.

    Usually, a community college will offer basic university-level courses, like calculus, general biology, psychology, and Spanish. But they lack higher level courses. Thus, a lot of people who go to community colleges intend on transferring their credits to a university. This is a cost-effective way to get a bachelor’s degree. Community colleges can cost a fraction of a traditional university. And most universities will accept community college credits.

    The instructors that teach at community colleges usually hold masters degrees, though leaders of departments may have PhDs. The instructors at universities are PhDs or PhD candidates, with few exceptions. (I taught at a university but have no PhD as I taught at the medical school, and an MD is essentially the health care field’s PhD.)

12. They’re a local 2 year post- secondary college that offers Associates degrees. Some of the degrees are transferrable into a 4 year degree at a different college/university. Other Associates degrees are terminal, as there are no baccalaureate, Masters, or PhD degrees in those fields.

13. I’d argue they are the actual legitimate college experience. In addition to general education and classes for 4 year degrees that will transfer, they also do tertiary vocational training that the trades look for in applicants. They also do standalone classes and language stuff. Think ESL (English as a second language). They offered a brewing class as an example for anyone willing to pay to go.

    I’d argue that on the average the teachers are better at teaching compared to the dedicated 4 year schools.

    This is the place you will see all walks of life, attempting to further their lives from various levels.