Why is community college often referred to as the 13th grade? I’ve seen so many of my older friends get belittled for attending a two year before transferring.
Are you considering attending a community college ?
With your stats you probably have other options.
There’s a long history to that question. Many years ago, community colleges were more geared toward vocational education (think auto mechanics, cosmetology, paralegals). There were always a few “junior colleges” in big cities, but throughout the country most community colleges were primarily vocational. Since, in the United States, we unfortunately have a tendency to look down on those sorts of jobs (which is quite stupid, and not how it is in other countries), we also looked down on the schools they went to. Now, a lot has changed, and CCs are no longer just for vocational education (in fact, many of them aren’t even very good at it anymore, which is a shame). But the negative connotation persists. There are some legitimate differences. Faculty at CCs usually only have to have a master’s degree, not a PhD as in universities. In some cases, this is perfectly fine, especially when those faculty have professional experience in the field that they are teaching, as many business faculty or art faculty do, just to mention two examples. Faculty are also not really expected to do research, which, unfortunately, does mean that many don’t keep abreast of new developments in their fields of study. They typically don’t get travel budgets to attend conferences, for example, and rarely get time off for professional study. Since they usually make less, they often teach in the summers for pay (though this happens with university faculty too sometimes). Also, CCs don’t have the amenities of a residential campus–no dorms, often not as many services. It really depends on the type of CC. A massive California CC is quite different in terms of the services it provides compared to a small rural CC. Finally, CCs are “open admission,” so that means there is much wider variety of skill levels among the students. Probably more info than you wanted, but there you have it.
Only a snob would belittle CC. In Maryland community college is free. Its a terrific option for a degree or even transfer, many of my family members went to cc 2 years then transferred to state university. The same people that belittle cc probably also belittle state universities. My biggest concern would be the quality of the professors and making sure they are not just part time but actually scholars in their field. You also need to think of careers and what expectations you need to meet if you want to go to grad school.
Well, there is no stigma, if you don’t do well in school then community colleges are a good and cheap resource to redeem yourself and take a shot at universities.
Community colleges aren’t just for those who don’t do well in school! They are a great option for any student who may want to stay home, get pre-req classes done (usually for a fraction of the cost) and transfer to a 4 year school as a junior Andy her a degree from that 4 year school.
CC is a great option for the many kids who are on the ______ or bust plan, where _______ is some hard-to-get-in state school. It’s a decent second chance/reprieve for many who want to get into a UC Berkeley or a UCLA or a Michigan who for whatever reason couldn’t get in after HS. And saving $25-30K a year as opposed to going to a state university right off the bat is also a great benefit.
I think there’s some regional variation to how it’s perceived. In California it seems to be seen as a solid option for kids who aren’t sure what they want to major in and want to get the first couple of years done more affordably. Now for the kids who can’t wait to move away from home, I’m sure they hate the thought, but that doesn’t mean everyone else will think less of you for doing that.
Maybe, everyone keeps telling me it’s the smarter option and you save a lot of money.
It depends on the cost and quality of the community colleges in your area (often very state dependent) and what four year options you may have.
Four year schools tend to offer their best merit scholarships to frosh admits (rather than transfer admits), so you may want to apply to four year schools that offer good merit scholarships to see if you can get into any with enough merit scholarships to make them cost competitive or less expensive than starting at a community college and transferring. (NYU, as mentioned in some of your other posts, is known for being expensive with poor financial aid and limited merit scholarships, so it is unlikely to be such a school.)
It is most common for community college students to transfer to the same state public universities, since they often have pre-set articulation agreements that show what community college courses are equivalent to what courses at the four year school.
In California there is no stigma associated with attending community colleges. In a lot of other states, there is.
Agree with ucbalumnus. With your stats, cc might or might not save you money if you can get a big merit scholarship to a 4 year as a freshman that’s not available to you as a transfer. So check out all your options and the costs.
My girls consider our closest cc as “13th grade” in part because so many kids from our school go that it tends to feel a lot like high school. And it is not in the greatest town so it feels a little dumpy.
DD’17 is currently attending a different cc in a more up and coming town and is very happy with it. She did encounter at least two people that looked down on her choice. It made her feel bad for a while when people would ask her where she was going, but then she got over it, knowing she was going to save so much money and got more confident about telling them. She has managed to cover all of her tuition with scholarships and she lives on campus so it feels like any other college.
I am in CA and although there is no real stigma attached to going to a CC here relatively few students with good high school grades and scores choose to do so unless they are in need of saving money or, as mentioned above, trying to transfer into a 4 year school where freshman admission rates are super low, like UCLA.
Why do most high-achieving students choose 4 year Universities from freshman year, despite the cost difference? Some of it is perception - the prestige of a 4 year school - but honestly it is also that the larger “more prestigious” schools also offer better academic and social opportunities. High acheiving students who go to their local CC’s won’t get pushed as hard in class because many of their CC classmates didn’t do as well in HS. It will be easier to get good grades without a lot of effort, which is a bit boring - hence the “13th grade” label. They won’t make as many connections with bright and ambitious kids simply because there aren’t as many in their cohort - it’s not a coincidence that so many adults met their best friends at college. Sophomore year in CC will be spent on preparing to transfer rather than preparing for an internship or research or travel with those “best friends” made freshman year.
I have known many successful adults who started at CC. I don’t think there’s any reason not to attend a CC and I think a lot of students benefit from starting there. But given the choice I do think the high-acheiving kids who go directly to a 4 year school and take advantage of the opportunities end up with richer college experiences and a greater range of academic and professional benefits.
I agree with the above posters. While there’s nothing wrong with you going to CC, there are a lot of advantages to going straight to a residential university, and you would probably get great merit aid with your stats. If you were my kid, I would be happy you thought of CC as your safety, but I would encourage you to apply to at least one dream school and a couple of matches. The only caveat to that is if you feel like you aren’t ready to leave home or have some health issues that make living at home the more reasonable choice at this point in your life.
While I think that the CC “13th Grade” reputation is undeserved, there is no denying that it exists in the minds of some people. Nevertheless, if your plan is to transfer to a baccalaureate institution, then you will end up with a Bachelor’s degree. At that point, the only way to even know that you attended a CC first would be a close reading of your transcript.
Stigma? To who? The jerks who call it “13th grade” are going to different colleges anyway. The students at community college aren’t using that term. If you think about it, you’re taking all the same general education classes and paying a fraction of the cost, and everything is transferable. When you walk the stage, your bachelors degree will be exactly the same as the students who went there all four years.
@coolguy40 I admire your spirit, but I do know many of my CC students do feel the effects of the stigma, and that does add a level of pain/disappointment to their lives. One sees and hears it when they come ask for letters and for help with transfer applications. I have often heard them disparage where they are, and they do sometimes use the term “13th grade.” I wish it weren’t true, but it is.
Also, some of them are just plain pissed that their parents didn’t prioritize saving for their college. I had one student literally do the math about what all her family’s “luxuries” (expensive cars, regular maid service, her own and her mother’s monthly hair and nail expenses) cost over the years, and how they could have paid for her to go to a residential 4-year college. Her response was “they needed to be the grownups and make better choices.” Talk about a wake up call!
Residential college is a luxury. Where do you think all the smart lower- and lower-middle-income students end up? Not everyone can afford the 4-year college experience.
Here in NYS we have an excellent cc system and guaranteed transfer to our 4-year SUNYs. A lot of kids commute to their local cc then transfer to their local 4-year school. I’m seeing more and more middle income families going that route. Since classes are reviewed and the 4-year schools acknowledge that class A at the cc is the equivalent to their class B, why would a family pay more than twice as much for it? The students take advantage of the connections at the cc then add a new set of connections at the 4-year school. And if they cross register at one of NY’s many private universities, they can add a whole new set of connections.
I congratulate the students who announce they’re going to a cc just as strongly as I do the ones who are attending residential college. College is what kids make it. It’s too bad if the adults in their lives are letting them get away with referring to cc’s as “13th grade.” That’s pretty insulting to the students who go there.
In most cases, if you do well in high school, you can study for free at a 4 year university with aid or scholarship, probably not a high ranking one but still better option than community college.
I also felt the stigma during my senior year in high school. I felt like some of the arguments that students made were uninformed. I’m currently at a CA CC and I remember someone told me that the professors were “bad”, but I have found they are retired professors from public universities. Then another stigma is that people won’t transfer in two year. I say it really depends on what course of path you take in order to accomplish a transfer. I remember learning about the TAG program I thought to myself how unnecessary it was for so many high school students to stress to get into a 4 year their freshman year if they could have just done two years at a low cost. In CA the first year tuition for a CC is paid so I see this as a great investment.