Cost Of Community Colleges Essay

This article provides an insightful view into the perceived and real status of community colleges in relation to their university counterparts. Once thought of as a place merely for underachievers to attend for workforce training, Trowbridge points out these institutions now have more to offer. They provide an affordable opportunity for students to complete the same courses that are available at the university for a fraction of the cost. Noting the financial savings in comparison to the traditional university, along with the overall quality of instruction, local community colleges have become a viable alternative for those seeking a college education without the incurring unnecessary amounts of debt.

Community college should be free for all students who want to attend school. There should be a set of rules applied to those that would take advantage of this privilege. In the United States, there are not very many programs that offer the opportunity for students to attend free colleges like other countries have. Some examples of the countries are Norway, Finland, Sweden, Germany and France. The U.S. does have some programs that offer free tuition. For example Tennessee offers free tuition to students. The Tennessee Promise is a scholarship program that pays for your community college so you can go there tuition free. Another program is the Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) in New York at the City University of New York. Community colleges should be free because it would not only attract more students, but would help students to focus more on school rather than thinking about how they are going to pay for their education. However, we need guidelines for applicants to attend such as maintaining a high GPA, giving back through community services hours, and other rules and guidelines to attract students that would continue to excel in their education and not waste the opportunity given to them to work towards a good career and give back.

Similarly, in “Two Years Are Better than Four”, Liz Addison argues that Community College is a good option for those who are not prepared for college or are unable to pay for a traditional 4-year degree. “Community college welcome people who comes from different background” (Addison). Because how much affordable Community college is in comparison to a traditional 4-year college. Community College gives hope to those who parents are blue-collar workers trying to give a better future to their children or those like my stepmother, who cannot obtain a four-year degree from medical school because of how much it costs. However, she can look for

lot of dollars for an unemployed family man or woman with little or no income.

This is not the only way that you can save by going to a community college. Chances are a larger university is not near your home. A school closer to home allows you to stay home and cut your bills another way by eliminating room and board fees and transportation expenses. Driving across town and maintaining your sometimes drastically lower living expenses sounds much better than the usurious bill many find themselves incurring at a larger school miles away from home.

Students attending private universities pay an average tuition of $35,374. Those who attend a community college for the first two year of their education save $8,000 or more. Since most of the same financial aid including Pell grants and Stafford loans is available for any institution choice, students in the lowest income brackets can expect a larger financial aid refund from a community college than a university. Those who need a university education to meet their career goals may be able to attend a community college part time while they work and save up. Then, when they transfer to a university for their final two years, they may have saved enough that with financial aid, they can pursue their four-year degree.

Perhaps some student aren’t ready to jump into four year college right after high school. Perhaps some students don’t have enough money or funding to afford four year colleges. For those who trying start taking classes, a community college, two years colleges or vocational school might a good place to get adjusted for college or for training to enter the workforce early. Liz Addison, supporter for two-year community colleges, considers community colleges the ideal place to begin and that it is not important to make the jump into a four-year university. In her essay, “Two Years Are Better than Four,” Addison portrays the theory of the community college. She assumes “The philosophy of the community college, and I have been to two of them, is one that conditionally allows its students to begin” (256). Her assumption are based on her idea “the community college system is America’s hidden public service gem” (257). A similar idea that Charles Murray believes in. He also believes community colleges the ideal place to begin for those who are training to enter the workforce early. He states “Try to force her (for example, by setting up a demanding core curriculum), and she will transfer to another school, because she is in college for vocational training. She wants to write computer code. Start a business. Get a job in television. She uses college to take vocational courses that pertain to her career interests.”().These to supporters of two years colleges and vocational training are encouraging students looking for place to start or those who are trying to get certain skills to join the

Community colleges in the United States develop rapidly and have become a vital component of the postsecondary education delivery system. As of 2011-2012 school year, 45% of all undergraduate students were enrolled in public two-year colleges, approximately 8.3 million students (Knapp et al., 2012. Cited by AACC Fast Facts). And it seems that with globalization and Obama’s education agenda, the trend of growing enrollment in community colleges won’t change. A high school graduate who decides to pursue postsecondary education may face with a dilemma--whether enroll in a community college or a traditional four-year college. Even within a community college, a student may be faced with a choice—enroll in a vocational program and enter workforce after graduation with a vocational certification, or choose an academic program with an intention of transferring to four-year institutions.

First, free college may not benefit those most in need. As Matt Bruenig, a writer who researches poverty and welfare systems, in his article “The Case Against Free College” argued, “The main problem with free college is that most students come from disproportionately well-off background and already enjoy disproportionately well-off futures, which makes them relatively uncoupling targets for public transfers…At public colleges, students from the poorest fourth of the population currently pay net tuition at either two-year or four-year institutions….Richer students currently receive much fewer tuition and living grant benefits”(113). Free college should benefit poorer students, but actually could end up helping wealthy students more. Low income

Kris, a wife and a mother, worries about the increasing cost of higher education. She and her husband have a two year old daughter whom they are determined to send to college. They want their daughter to succeed in life, but they have to weigh the complications of going to college as well. “I have always thought about college as a “catch 22”...You’re taught from a young age that in order to achieve the “American Dream” you must graduate high school and go to college,” Kris contemplates (Kris 5).Throughout Kris’s ten years of experience with college, she has seen the tuition increase to shocking heights. In fact, she claims that community colleges cost as much as state colleges did when she first started her college hunt. Back then, she

Tuition cost plays a vital role in deciding whether to attend a community college or a four year institution. According to Susan Stafford, “Tuition for community colleges is affordable while tuition costs at public institutions are usually at least twice that of a community college” (1). The tuition cost in universities can be overwhelming and highly unaffordable, This have caused many students to graduate with s heavy loads of debt but by attending a community college, an individual can

One of the major pieces to becoming a successful business man/woman is receiving a college education. A college degree is viewed as a necessity and is slowly becoming an unreachable goal for some people. Most believe that the cost of college has been rising and continues to rise, and that the rate of increase is outpacing that of other costs (NAICU). As the cost of college rises, families have to change their way of life to be fortunate enough to send their children to college. Along with changing how families’ live, many other problems are produced in various ways. The cost of college should be lowered because it imposes a burden on parents and their children, causes some students to alter their choice of which college to attend, and

In the article, it said “Making tuition at community colleges free, they say, would encourage the neediest students to enroll at the lowest-funded colleges with the lowest graduation rates.” Some people have money like the rich people are called upper class or higher class, who have a lot of money can afford any colleges, universities and even private schools. They are middle-class are people that sometimes has money and sometimes doesn’t. They can afford on some colleges that isn’t very expensive on tuition and etc. Lastly, the lower class which are the poor people. They can’t afford any college, not even community college. This is why community needs to be free, so the lower class can get an opportunity to see what a college is

The cost of attending college has risen drastically over the years. Statistics show that there has been a 260% increase in tuition costs since 1980. The increase in tuition cost equates to an increase in money borrowed to fund higher education. An increase in money borrowed results in an increase in debt accumulated over time. As a result of the rising figures, the economy as a whole has also suffered because of the restricted financial space many graduates find themselves in upon completion of their degree. In this paper, we will discuss college costs, reasons why they have risen, and the best way for students to pay for it.

It is important to consider who truly benefits from free college tuition, as it is not low-income students. In fact, free college tuition creates a larger rift between the dollar values low-income students have in comparison to high-income students. According to a study from NPSAS (Chingos, 2012), a government-funded, student-study organization, rich students will receive 24% more in dollar value if the establishment of free college tuition. This is interpreted as a tradeoff; free college tuition will eliminate tuition, but out-of-pocket costs for low-income families will increase to $17.8 billion dollars annually which grants cannot cover. Rich students would be able to pay off these costs because of that increase in dollar value. Therefore, it is impossible to ignore that low-income students truly would not benefit from free college tuition, as they do not have the same privileges as rich students do.