“The college admissions scandal turned a harsh spotlight on just how far some parents will go to get their kids into college. But it’s also brought a fresh look at whether four-year colleges are right for all students. In our School Matters series, Kenneth Craig explores community college programs that advocates argue have long been undervalued.” …
Video.
https://news.yahoo.com/community-colleges-offer-students-more-171427729.html
While no community college is so competitive that a parent would commit fraud to get their kid in, the coursework typically mirrors that of Freshman- and Sophomore-level classes at Baccalaureate institutions. Not only are the CC courses much less expensive, they also provide students with less-than-stellar high school transcripts a second chance to demonstrate that they are well-qualified to transfer into a competitive college program. So many families deprecate CCs because there is so little ‘prestige’ in attending them. However, if a student transfers to a more-impressive college, their eventual degree is no different from that of a ‘native’ student who attended that college for all four (more like five, these days!) years.
Of course, besides the transfer programs, there are so many two-year degrees and certificates that are more appropriate for students who are looking for a good job. A good example is a Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA), who can perform many of the tasks of a Registered Physical Therapist (RPT), which requires a Doctorate (DPT)! To be sure, someone with a DPT makes quite a bit more than a PTA, but it will take about 10 years for that DPT to pay back the difference in the cost between the two degrees.
My DD’17 chose to do a graphic design program at a CC. 5 semesters and she was done, debt free and money in the bank. We carefully compared course lists to Bachelors programs and found that the CC program had as many (or usually more) graphic design credits as the 4 year degrees. The difference was way fewer gen eds. DD did not see the need to pay drastically more to take two extra years of miscellaneous courses. That’s not her style, she wanted to be done efficiently and cheaply and got out into the workforce. She got a lot of hands on learning from the very beginning, and just finished an internship in which for 6 weeks of it she was the only graphic designer for a printing company and handled it beautifully. Meanwhile, her HS classmate at a private university has barely begun any design coursework.
She is now job hunting and it remains to be seen whether the AAS will be any hindrance to her. It’s a risk she was willing to take since employers in this field also consider your portfolio. She can also start at a lower paying job if needed since she has no loan payments.
She was embarrassed at first when people asked where she was going. But she decided to own it and be proud of her decision. A lot of DD’19s classmates are now planning on going to that same CC. It’s not the one closest to home and it’s in an up and coming area, so it has a little more cache` than the closer one.
I disagree with the second sentence. Sure, the question of whether or not a student needs to pursue a four year degree is an important one. But I don’t think the scandal “has brought a fresh look” to this question. Two pretty unrelated issues.