Community College

What are the Benefits of Attending a Community College first?

Lower Tuition & Fees - Since community college tuition is significantly cheaper, students who attend a community college and transfer to a four-year university save a lot of money towards tuition.

More University Options

A) For students not admitted to their “dream” school, the community college offers students the opportunity to improve their academic transcript and more time to explore other extracurricular opportunities.  

B) SAT/ACT scores are not required from applicants who are transferring as junior standing. 

Flexible Schedule - Due to the diversity of the community college student population community colleges offer many more classes at a range of times.

Explore Majors - The community college allows students to explore various introductory subject.

Course Credit - Most classes from a community college can transfer to a four-year university as lower-division credit towards elective credit, major credit, or general education credit.

Smaller Class Sizes - Classroom sizes  tend to be small with a student-faculty ratio of 30:1.

If my intent is to transfer to a four-year university, what are the downsides of attending a Community College first? 

Impacted Courses - At some community colleges, required courses to transfer can be impacted.

Limited curriculum - Community colleges offer lower-division classes that will transfer to a four-year school. They do not offer upper-division coursework

Less Rigorous Courses - Since the courses at a community college are “introductory” level, these courses are generally less rigorous and more broad than those found at a four-year insitution. This can pose as a limitation for students when they transfer because they are transferring with basic knowledge, but will be taking upper-division courses with students who have taken multiple field-specific courses. 

Limited Elite Private University Transfer - Although elite universities (e.g., Stanford) accept transfer students from the community college, the portion they accept is exceptionally small. 

Limited College Experience - Since transfer students are at a four-year campus for less time than traditional students, they find themselves a bit “detached” from the college experience. Upon transferring, they may find it difficult to network and make friends.  Transfer students generally enter as juniors, and the majority of their classmates have been there since their freshmen year. These students have already developed connections and friendships, so transfer students often report experiencing a lack of sense of belonging to the campus community.

Limited Extracurricular Activities - There are clubs and activities at community colleges, however they are not as well established due to lack of funding and because students are there for an average of two years, not four. Once students transfer to a four-year university, they only have about two years to engage in the opportunities at four-year university, rather than the four-years a freshman admitted student has.