If you’ve gone through American high school, you must be familiar with seeing Community colleges being frowned upon. Most graduating high school students aim for attending universities all over the country. Because most community colleges have 100% acceptance rates, it’s hard to believe that it took much effort to get in. Because of the expectation of working hard to get into a university with a low acceptance and high graduation rate, many students may feel like failures for going to community colleges (whether they chose to or not). In reality, they may be the smarter ones for going to community college. 

Most community colleges have 100% acceptance rates and typically cost less, which (despite the acceptance rate misconceptions), is already better than Universities. This gives students the chance to get a degree, even if they didn’t do the best in school or if they cannot afford an Ivy League school. According to collegerealitycheck.com, there are only four main reasons why a community college can deny you admission, which are in your control. The first reason is not having the necessary qualifications or documentation for the application. This includes basic things such as a high school diploma or enough credits to prove that you graduated as well as proof of citizenship. The second reason is that there may not be enough spots in the college. With community colleges becoming more popular, the admission rates may become too high for all of the applicants to be accepted. The third reason is not meeting GPA requirements. While not all colleges have a GPA requirement, some do. However, the requirement is not usually higher than 2.5. The final reason is behavior issues. If students had suspensions or probations in high schools, either due to academic or behavioral matters, the school might deny you. Community colleges (just like high schools) have the right to take students out of extracurricular activities if their grades are suffering. If your record shows that you have an issue similar to this, it’s likely that they don’t want to risk bad behaviors or bad learning habits taking place at their school.

Community college tuition is extremely affordable compared to universities. You get the same level of education without the massive amount of debt. In America, the average cost of community college is $7,460 total (four years), or $1,865 per semester.  Most universities have tuition ranging from $20,000-$70,000. That is a big price difference which can be extremely helpful when having to pay college debts in the future. Community colleges still provide financial aid, which can lower these costs even more. Community college schedules also aren’t as demanding. You have the time to keep up with a job, which makes it easy to pay off the little student debt you have. And, if you attend a community college in your hometown, you’ll likely be around other friends from high school who decided to stick around, as well as spending more time with your family. Living at home as an adult is a different experience, so don’t expect it to feel like high school. You’ll have more time and freedom to do what you want with your time. Community colleges aren’t always strictly school. Partly due to sports teams, you might find a community college with just as much spirit and pride as an Ivy League school. You can still experience college events like sports games, pep rallies, outdoor activities, and parties. If that’s not your kind of scene, there are plenty of colleges out there with small admission that don’t have a large campus preference. 

Overall, if you are planning on attending community college, it would be best to do as much research as possible in order to find the college that best fits you. People think that all community colleges are the same, but they’re just as different in comparison to universities. I truly believe that community college can be more beneficial for the majority of the population, but it doesn’t fit everyone.