preview

Colleges Vs Independent Colleges

Better Essays

According to the latest U.S. Census, 33.4 percent of Americans (just over 105 million people) reported having a bachelors degree; only ten years ago this number was 28 percent; in 1940, 4.6 percent (Wilson). With this in mind, the importance of secondary education becomes self-evident. Where people decide to obtain their education will ultimately influence the rest of their lives. The common struggle of choice appears between universities and independent colleges (those not under authority of universities). Both have upsides and downsides as well as similarities and differences that can make the choice difficult. An effective way to choose between attending a university or college, however, is to consider the focus of the school, offered programs, …show more content…

The linchpin of colleges is on education; cultivating the understanding in students. Professors do not commonly release theses and can devote more time to the students. In addition to different priorities, class sizes are generally smaller at colleges. An average “class size is 25-35 students. In contrast, some introductory-level courses at universities are in lecture halls with 150-300 or more students in a class” (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)). This is significant because studies have shown class sizes ranging from one to nineteen have the highest test scores on average (Riskey). Twenty-five to thirty-five does not exactly fit in this category, but it is very different from the head counts of …show more content…

Colleges and universities are largely the same and contain very few differences. How a student will choose a school will depend on what criterion will they hold. If they wish to stay in one place throughout their post-secondary education, are not that concerned with tuition, and/ or love social aspects of the “college experience”, a university may be the best bet. If a student is not concerned with moving from school to school, holds what they pay in high esteem, and/or is not too concerned with socialization, a college may be the best fit. There may also be a compromise, where someone gets an under-graduate degree from a college, and decides to further their education at a university. Regardless of where someone decides to take their education past high school, it is still a win for our country and our global society. Every waking moment there are more and more people that hold “college” degrees and essentially make a further educated society that can continue to

Get Access