College Vs Community College

Most students are eager to leave home immediately after graduating high school. However, the reality is, most students aren’t ready to start at a four-year university. Community college is an easy way to obtain basic classes for less money, give students who aren’t ready to leave home a chance to become independent while still living at home, and for those who are first generation college students make the transition easier while allowing the same students to figure out whether or not a university will be a good next step. According to College Atlas, Money is the number one reason high school graduates don’t end up furthering their education. Financial aid isn’t always available to those who need it most, so naturally those students may

However, despite all the obvious reasons to choose community college, why do some students end up attending a university? Centennial senior, Emily Warren gives her input on why she chose Olivet Nazarene University over a local community college, “I always knew that I wanted to go to a Christian university so I could find a spiritual foundation for my education. Money wasn’t the deciding factor because money can’t buy the life long experiences that this university can.” Warren makes some solid points as to why some students may still choose a university. Money may not always be the main factor, as Warren discusses, and personal beliefs can factor into why a student may not attend a community college. However, community colleges offer a wide variety of extracurricular activities and religious groups. Champaign’s own Parkland college offers organizations from the Parkland Christian Fellowship, to sports teams that are open to all. Second year college student, Nolan Harmon gives his view on community college, “I wanted to immediately get experienced in sports broadcasting, and parkland allowed me to do just that.” As Harmon explains his choice he continues by adding, “Another thing that factored into my choice was watching some of my older friends starting at universities and ending up back home after the first year or so.” Community colleges help thousands of

But even if I weren 't, it would be significantly cheaper than a 4 year university. I moved out, but it’s still close to home which is nice. and I can still adjust to living on my own.” Johnson helps elaborate on the original thesis of why community college is the smarter way to go. Although not everyone receives full-ride scholarships, as Johnson states, living near home makes the transition easier, just as most community college students would agree