Community colleges can be a good alternative for higher education abroad
The top institutions for foreign
education have become familiar to all of us. Lately, however, when it comes to
education in the United States, another concept is becoming popular: Community
Colleges. Growing up as a middle-class American, I am more familiar with
community colleges than the Ivy League. A lesser known fact is that 40% of
graduate American students begin at community college.
What
is a community college? People usually put away the option, because it may be
symbolic to underachievement, but in fact, community colleges can be a great
alternative to reach your goals if used wisely. Explained simply, typical
colleges in the States follow either a four year bachelor’s degree, or a two
year community college associate degree, where AA stands for Associate of Arts
and AS stands for Associate of Science track. From the associates degree you
can transfer to a four year college and complete the final two years of a
bachelor’s degree in a two plus two type structure. The key here is the ‘plus
two’ element – if you complete your first two years at any community college in
the US, you will ultimately be granted a bachelor’s degree from a four year
degree university, including some of the top institutions. The public will only
know that you have a bachelor’s degree from a great college, nobody will ask
whether you attended that college for the full four-year course.
Why
should a student choose this route? One of the most compelling reasons is the
cost. In the US, the first two years of any college is geared toward providing
you with general education, no matter whether you are at MIT or Penn State. To
maximise funds, many families opt to enroll their child in a community college
for the first two years and complete basic requirements at a fraction of the
cost. The all-inclusive cost of community college is around $25,000 (Rs 16 lakh
approx), whereas the cost for a college providing a full time degree go up to
$60,000 (Rs 40 lakh approx). You can, therefore, save up to half of your
college fee for the first two years and only pay the full price in the final
two years.
Another
reason to choose a community college is to prepare yourself better for a highly
selective university or the subject major of your choice. Also, community
colleges do not have entry requirements, so if you plan your coursework
properly, at the end of two years you can easily transfer into a highly
selective four year degree college to complete your graduation. Besides not
having sufficient subject requirements, you may not have performed well in high
school. With weaker grades, you can enter a community college, perform up to a
high standard and then seek admission to a reputed college, providing a full
time course.
Once
you have completed two years of study at a community college, colleges where
you seek transfer will not ask you to report your high school grades, nor will
they ask for a standardised test score (SAT or ACT). Your admission into a
non-community college for final two years of your bachelor’s will only depend
upon your grades and recommendation letters from your community institute.
Students
also opt for community colleges because they may not have planned ahead. The
community college application process is very straightforward, has minimal
requirements and takes place much after the completion of grade 12, (whereas a
four year degree requires application submission by December 12).
Finally,
many excellent colleges have transfer agreements with community colleges
whereby students are guaranteed admission into the final two years. University
of California is one such institute offering student transfer facilities from a
community college. Hence it is common for a student in California to enroll in
a community college at first, like in one of the San Mateo Colleges of the
Silicon Valley and then shift to UC Berkeley – the system is set up to
accommodate this type of movement between institutions. In fact, in the University
of California, the regular admission rate is around 30%, whereas the admission
rate for students transferring from a community college is around 95%.
American
students have been opting for this route since decades. It is high time Indian
students, wanting a career abroad consider this option as a healthy alternate
and a possible route to some of America’s best institutions for higher
education.
The
author is a study abroad advisor and co-founder of The Red Pen. Email queries
to
Source | www.hindustantimes.com
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Senior Manager @ Library
Khaitan & Co
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