Community College Stigma – Demystifying Community Colleges

Community colleges have never been held in any degree of esteem by the top universities or their students. The fact that the cost is less and only students from less affluent classes tend to get admitted there, has fueled certain myths that have been current for centuries. Given below are two such myths that have been busted in the recent past simply because of the financial doldrums that the country is going through.

The teaching and education is not as good as the four-year institutions

This is something anyone would expect from an institution where the cost of the courses is a quarter compared to the four-year institutions. But it is not true. The community colleges offer a variety of courses and they are quite good compared to the other institutions. You can apply for a course that will help you in your future endeavors in the employment field or some course that you want to pursue only for the sake of enriching your knowledge.

Students who weren’t accepted by the four-year institutions go to the community colleges

This has been a long standing myth and like almost all of them is baseless. Students often feel that the community colleges are the only option if they are not accepted by the four-year institutions. The fact, however, is that many of the students are applying only to the community colleges because the tuitions there are cheaper.

The present condition of the economy is not at all conducive for the students now as the burden of the defaulted student loan on the students increases by the hour. In this situation even the government is encouraging students to take admission in the community colleges. Not only will this be easier for the students to manage but also for the government to handle since they will have to take a small amount of loan. as a result, the students will have a small amount to pay off.

It is not easy to transfer to a four-year institution

This myth, however, has some sense as one need to do extensive research to find out the process of transferring to a four-year institution. In fact, there are certain courses which if you enroll in them won’t allow you to transfer. But there are a number of universities that encourage transfer students. The community colleges have to enter in to “articulation agreement” with the four-year institutions which enable the students to transfer. If you have plans to transfer, then you have to talk to the community college when you are taking admission there.

In the recent years the cost of higher education has increased manifold and people are being forced to take more loans than they can pay off. Again the employment scenario is not as hopeful as one might hope. Therefore, the students are defaulting on the loan payments. Now, the Consequences of Defaulted Student loans are severe and they have to be paid off as there is no other way of them. so, in order to avoid all these unnecessary hassles students are turning towards community colleges.

Author bio

The author, Jonathan, has a deep interest in helping students which he does through his articles. Here he talks about how community colleges can help the students combat the consequences of defaulted student loans.