The biggest misconception about community college

We write a lot about the benefits of starting your bachelor’s degree at a community college to save money on your degree.

Unfortunately, many students and families mistakenly believe community colleges are subpar to 4-year schools. They assume the classes are easier, and the education they provide is somehow less rigorous or prestigious than those offered at 4-year colleges.

Community college isn’t easy

But this simply isn’t the case.

Community college classes are just as rigorous as ones at 4-year colleges. In fact, in many classes, they use the exact same textbooks and teach the same concepts as 4-year schools.

As Isa Adney writes for Huffington Post,

Just because they don’t require a particular SAT score for admission does not mean that classes aren’t hard or that getting a degree isn’t going to take a tremendous amount of effort and sacrifice

If you choose to attend a community college, it’s not something you can just blow off–particularly if you intend to transfer to a 4-year college to finish your bachelor’s degree.

Benefits of community college

There are enormous financial benefits to attending a community college, and spending two years at community college before transferring to a 4-year college could save you over $40,000 on your bachelor’s degree.

Some colleges, such as Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY, even offer full tuition scholarships for qualified students–which means that your first two years of college could be essentially free.

And since they have partnerships with prestigious colleges like the University of Rochester, students can easily transfer to one of those schools to finish their bachelor’s degree.

Many community colleges like Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY (above), offer scholarships and 2+2 programs that make it easier for students to transfer to 4-year colleges. Source: Wikimedia Commons

And, in many cases, students who choose to earn 2-year terminal degrees at community colleges can even make more money than those who earn B.A.s at 4-year schools, depending on field.

Community college can help you save money on college

When choosing a college, students and families shouldn’t let their preconceived notions about the quality of community college stop them from evaluating this option to help save money on a bachelor’s degree.

Rather than viewing community college as a “second-class education,” students should see it as a “first-class opportunity” to receive a quality education and save money on their bachelor’s degree.

If you need help finding quality community colleges that can save you money on college and make it easier to transfer to a 4-year school, or just want to learn more about the financial benefits of community college, give us a call toll-free at 1-888-234-3907 or contact us using this form.