Community Colleges

These can be public community colleges (also called junior and technical colleges), public and private centers, or institutes and specialty schools for art, music, aviation, and other disciplines. They offer two-year associate degrees, diploma programs, and certificates, which are issued upon completion of classes in a specialty area, such as welding. Community colleges traditionally have maintained an open-door policy, meaning admission has been automatic with proof of a high school diploma or equivalent. But that’s changing. Many community colleges are raising their admission standards and academic curriculum, and first-year students tend to do as well academically as freshmen at fouryear schools.
Most community colleges now provide course requirements for students moving into four-year schools, including highly competitive public universities.
These requirements, incorporated into articulation agreements between schools, comply with programs—such as a nursing program— and curricular offerings at those four-year schools. The Illinois Articulation Initiative, for example, considers any graduate with a degree from an accredited Illinois community college to have satisfied all the general education requirements at certain four-year public colleges and universities in the state.
If you’re thinking about a community college, ask what courses transfer, how easy it is to transfer, and how well the transfer students do compared with students already at the four-year schools you’re considering. Additionally, check your state or neighboring states for articulation agreements between community and four-year state colleges.

Fast Facts about Community Colleges

❏ Our 1,100 community colleges have a combined enrollment of 5.6 million students. They represent 45 percent of all undergraduates.
❏ Tuition and fees average $1,904.
❏ 55 percent of all first-year college students begin at a community college.
❏ Tuition and fees at a community college average approximately half of those at public, four-year colleges; they are less than 15 percent of what private, four-year schools charge.
❏ As many students enroll half-time as full-time because they work. Consequently, community colleges offer classes and programs at times and places convenient for working students, including nights and weekends.
❏ Community college students tend to live off campus, often at home to save money. Some campuses have no dormitories.