Southwestern Michigan College

The Advantages Of Attending A Community College

College blogger

If you’re a high school graduate and are not planning on attending a four-year university, community college can be a great alternative. Some people think that attending this type of school has a negative stigma attached to it, but it actually has a lot of advantages and can provide many benefits for those who decide to try it out.

Those who attend this type of school can save a great deal of money. Four-year universities can be extremely expensive, especially if you attend one that is out of state. Private schools can cost as much as $50,000 a year, and even a public school tuition can run more than $10,000. In contrast, community college costs about half as much. Additionally, if you choose to attend one in your hometown, you can save even more money by living with your parents. Room and board comprises a significant percentage of the costs of attending a four-year school, so living at home can free up some money for other things.

Because of the money you will save, community college is a great way to get your general requirements out of the way. You will need to take them no matter where you attend school. General education classes can be difficult because not all students are interested in these types of courses, so it’s best to get them out of the way before you focus on the course work you actually want to take. If you take these basic courses at a local school, your credits will transfer to a four-year school and you won’t have to pay to take those classes there. This will allow you to complete your major more quickly and graduate as soon as possible.

If you’re not sure of what you want to major in, community college is a great way to explore your options and figure out what interests you. Credit hours can get quite pricey at a four-year university, so changing your major many times can get pretty expensive. If you take a variety of classes at a smaller, local school to find out what type of subjects you want to pursue further, you can decide on the right major before transferring.

A community college offers students a great opportunity to explore what they want to do in life and raise their grades to get into a prestigious university. As many as four out of ten students begin their university careers this way, and it provides the perfect launching pad for higher education.

Thinking about attending a community college in Michigan? Southwestern Michigan College offers a quality education. For information on the classes available, visit: .

What Can a Community College do for You

College blogger

A community college is exactly what it sounds like – a college for the community. It can help people to learn and further their educations in many different ways.

For someone who is interested in pursuing a bachelor’s degree, but may not have all the necessary funding, it is a great choice. It allows many people to earn credits for university level courses while not paying university-level tuition. Some even offer bachelor’s degrees so you can remain there throughout your entire college experience. Today there are only a few that offer bachelor’s degrees, but the trend of offering four year bachelors degrees is growing quickly and becoming much more popular.

One of the many advantages offered by a community college is that they tend to focus on local students and their specific needs. In instances where students are unable to relocate to pursue university credit, they are able to attend university level classes. If there is a very specific business in the area, many times they can work with the business to develop a highly specialized training program for people from throughout the area. Many also offer programs for local high school students to allow them to earn university credit while still attending high school. This allows them to enter college with credits, which allows them to save money and to possibly use less time in pursuing a bachelor’s degree.

Although many universities have very restrictive and selective admissions policies, a community college typically will be open enrollment. For a student who did not have great grades or for a student who may not yet have completed a high diploma and pursued the General Educational Development (GED) tests or even for someone who decided to pursue further education at a relatively older age, this can be a great way to get back into the academic world. This is also helpful for students who may have been prevented from pursuing further education previously due to limited finances and are now able to pursue further education.

For student athletes who may not have been academically ready to pursue a degree from a four-year university, a community college is a great option. This allows them to continue to pursue athletics while getting academically prepared for the rigor of a four-year university. Many professional football players have pursued this option, including Aaron Rodgers who attended Butte Community College for a year before transferring to the University of California Berkeley.

In Michigan, community college options are fulfilled when attending Southwestern Michigan College. Learn about all of the opportunities at .