Husky Open Admissions Analysis

In the United States a community college is defined as a nonresidential junior college offering courses to people living in a particular area. They are post secondary schools and are also referred to as junior colleges, vocational or technical schools because generally the course of study is for two years. The student can earn an associates degree or certification and/or continue their education by transfering to a four year college to complete their educational pursuits and earn a Bachelor 's degree. Community colleges started in the late 1800’s and have grown and evolved over the years. Today many four year colleges and universities have become so expensive to attend that many prospective students are opting for the more affordable alternative of a community college for their first two years of study where they can save money by living at home and taking classes that will transfer to a four year institution, however, there are students that cannot afford the lower cost of community colleges.

Can Two Be Greater Than Four? Does college really matter? Has college lost its rite to passage appeal? Can one still go to college and be successful in the pursuit of self-discovery? These are the types of questions that Liz Addison challenges in her short essay “Two Years Are Better Than Four”. By taking into account my own experience as a current community college student and advocate, in this response to Addison’s essay I choose to elaborate on her views of community college being better than a four year university in the sense of offering a better college experience.

The idea of community colleges to me is a place to get a good education and explore different options, and meet some great people. On the web site of the American Association of Community Colleges it says, “The mission of the community college is to provide education for individuals, many of whom are adults, in its service region”. This means that

As the month of November comes along annually, every single high school senior is forced to decide which path they are going to take after graduating. For some, it is easy to choose which college to attend and how to pay for it. But, for many, it is extremely difficult to figure out a way to get the funds for college. So, they choose the community college route. Community college is drastically cheaper than tuition at a four year university.

She attended two of them and has a major in biology from the Southern Maine Community College, which makes it easier for her to connect with her audience because she knows what the experience is like. She understands that some people may rule out going to college because of the price, so it’s important for her to inform them that there are cheaper alternatives with community colleges. “ ‘College is the key,’ a young African American student writes for the umpteenth torturous revision of his college essay, ‘as well as hope.’ Oh, I wanted desperately to say, please tell him about community college. Please tell him that help can begin with just one placement test,” she pleads (Addison, 213).

Even in Liz Addison’s text, “Two Years are Better than Four”, she argues that “The community college system is America’s hidden public service gem” (Addison, 257). There are so many Dixon 2 community colleges across the country that offer the two-year degree path, but not many people know about them, so you can go to a two-year community college and still get a degree. Not to mention, this opens a new door for opportunity for people that don’t want to spend four-years earning a degree either because of time or money issues. If you look back at Murray’s text, it goes on to talk about how some careers dont even require four years of education to get some jobs, although it does require that you get at least a bachelor's’ degree to be considered good at those jobs. Community college introduces those students who would never even dream of having the college experience, in an easier way.

Who wouldn’t want an extra two-years to reconsider life and reevaluate their goals? Community colleges near home give plenty of opportunities to exceed life. Preparing every college student to manage the real world, and be able to take care of their responsibilities. Time doesn’t stop for anybody, so by having an extra two years is like saying you’re living a blessing. Life is not easy, but community colleges are there to assist in overcoming the first couple years of the adult

She attended two of them and has a major in biology from the Southern Maine Community College, which makes it easier for her to connect with her audience because she knows what the experience is like. She understands that some people may rule out going to college because of the price, so it’s important for her to inform them that there are cheaper alternatives with community colleges. “ ‘College is the key,’ a young African American student writes for the umpteenth torturous revision of his college essay, ‘as well as hope.’ Oh, I wanted desperately to say, please tell him about community college. Please tell him that help can begin with just one placement test,” she pleads (Addison, 213).

Another one is the wide-choice of programs to choose from. There are many reasons why a student may want to enter a Community College. For one thing, it provides the perfect conditions for students who are not emotionally, academically and economically prepared for University education. 80% of students in Community Colleges are employed in part-time

For the past year I’ve been conducting research about the reason why students don’t attend a community college. Other than financial reasons, why else? Due to my huge hesitation in attending community college I wanted to investigate on why wasn’t that a popular option in my culture in High School. In may 2014, I received the student ambassador job position that I was not expecting, which had a huge impact on my research. I was so curious as to how the process of orientation runs that impacts the students decisions.

College isn’t just a way to get an education, its not just learning a skill to get a better job, or make more money, its a place for the mind to grow, for you to grow as a person. Most colleges today only focus on teaching the material about the subject at hand, but not giving the students skills for the real world. A liberal arts college benefits students in more ways than an ordinary college, by providing the students with moral values, strengthening their faith, and bringing a sense of God being a part of everything we do. In todays society teachers are taught to teach the materials students need to excel/pass the course, lacking the morality of it all.

Reich supports this claim that not everyone can succeed in a four-year liberal arts college by bringing up three key problems: financial instability, lack of employment, and eventual obsolete education due to four-year liberal arts degrees.. Reich believes the main cause these issues are experienced by students are because of lack of awareness of gateways and the fact that very few gateways are opened to students. Reich argues that another gateway for success that won’t cause financial instability is to pursue technician jobs. In order to achieve mastery over technical knowledge only two years of study at a community college is required which can lead to a preference for students versus a four-year liberal arts college because of extremely low cost and time. Reich also believes that since technology is constantly changing specific knowledge from a four-year liberal arts college may become obsolete.

Most community college students have a life outside their school life. Some may have more priorities than others, but they still have to pay for things, manage time, and most work at least a minimum of ten hours . There are many students that don 't return for the second year at a community college for many reasons, but the main reason is that many community college students have experienced debt. Which leads to why many first time Community College students don 't return for the second year due to money issues. First, many community college students have to work several hours while going to school.

I chose to attend community college in the United State because of two reasons. First, I am an international student. My purpose is not only school but also new cultural. I do not want I become a person who have high knowledge but without any experiments. I think, “If I choose community college to begin my study in the United State, I will have more time to learn about the habits and customs of the US” and I am happy because I did that decision.

Not everyone has the privilege of becoming a Macalester student. The ones that do receive an amazing liberal arts education. I dreamed of attending a none community college school. Thanks to my learning disabilities it was never a possibility. Instead I thrived during my lone year at community college.