Community Colleges & Universities -- Comparisons What

Community Colleges & Universities -- Comparisons What are the major differences between community colleges and four-year colleges and universities as far as financial and academic appropriateness for students? For millions of Americans, community colleges have an enormous advantage over four-year colleges and universities -- but what are those advantages? This paper will examine those and other issues relating to the community college vs. A four-year college / university.

Community Colleges and Universities - Comparisons There are an estimated 2,604 four-year colleges and universities in the United States, according to data in U.S. News & World Report. There are an estimated 1,151 community colleges in the U.S. As well. Of those, about 1,000 are public community colleges, and the remainder are funded through private channels (American Community Colleges).

The original intent of a community college (in the past they were called "junior colleges" but that title had a slightly un-dignified sound to it so it was changed to "community college") was to prepare students for a full four-year college and university experience. "The main objective for students was to transfer to four-year schools after two years at a community college," the American Community Colleges Web site explains.

But over the past 40 years, community colleges have become more comprehensive, offering courses that in many instances dovetail with a four-year program at a university or college. In other words, many community colleges specifically design their curriculum to be the completion of the first two years of a university curriculum (Carey, 2008, p. 1). But moreover, community colleges have been offering classes that prepare students for employment after the two years of instruction.

For example, at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland, there are the following majors that prepare students for positions after two years of college: a) business skills; b) child care courses; c) occupational courses (real estate, insurance, commercial driving skills, and mediation); d) leadership and supervision; e) entrepreneurship, self-employment and small business; f) health care (medical assistant skills, pharmacy technician skills); and g) computers and information technology (Howard Community College).

The major advantages of a community college include: lower cost of tuition (often less than half what it costs over two years in a university); credits transfer to colleges and universities (generally the credits amount to 50% of those needed for a 4-year education); the quality of instruction is excellent; there are nearly always smaller class sized than in 4-year institutions; and in the great majority of cases, the community college has an "open door" policy, meaning many classes are open no matter what grades the student got in high school (Carey, p.

2). Some classes in English and other Humanities courses do require a potential student to be tested in advance, however, to be certain that the student has the skills to qualify for the course. A story in the Washington Post points to the fact that many university students take courses from community colleges during the summer.

At one point in the summer of 2010, according to journalist Daniel de Vise, Tidewater Community College in Virginia had 2,150 four-year college students (up 14% from the previous summer) and Montgomery College had 3,100 four-year college students, which added up to "about one-quarter of its summer enrollment" (de Vise, 2010, p. 1).

Why do so many four-year students take summer classes at community colleges? "The [university students] are taking advantage of increasingly flexible transfer policies to load up on cheap, convenient credits that will help them graduate more quickly and at a lower expense," de Vise explains on page 1. More and more, two-year colleges are part of the "broader trend," de Vise continues; that is, "three-fifths of those who earn bachelor's degrees attend more than one college, and the percentage is slowly rising, according to federal data" (p. 1).

The data shows that "…students increasingly view college as a collection of credits rather than a four-year term on one campus," de Vise explains. These collegiate students, called "swirlers," are becoming what de Vise refers to as "…a major force in higher education" (p. 1).

One of the students that de Vise interviewed for his story, Sean Daly, 20 years old, majoring in 20th century history, attends Loyola Marymount in California during the regular school year (one year at Loyola Marymount costs $52,705 in tuition), and in the summer of 2010 he attended Montgomery College (a community college). Daly's tuition for a full summer semester of classes cost just $1,600 (de Vise, p. 1).

The federal data on college students shows that "about 15% of four-year college students take classes at community college, chiefly in the summer." Part of the rise in numbers of four-year students attending summer classes at community colleges is the economic downturn: after all, community colleges offer "high-quality credits at a bargain-basement price," de Vise continues on page 2). Krista DeNovio also attended Montgomery College in the summer of 2010, taking two classes for $800; he main four-year school, School of Arts and Sciences at Catholic University, costs about $40,000.