CLASS DISMISSED: Community college proven beneficial

By: Jasmyn Elliott/Columnist

Transfer students are sometimes stigmatized since they attended community college rather than entering a four-year institution right after high school.

However, I would like to think of them as fantastic strategists.

Jasmyn Elliott / Columnist

Jasmyn Elliott / Columnist

The reasons for attending community college first are varied, but the most prevalent one is the economic advantage. Community college tuition tends to be much cheaper than its four-year counterpart.

Take, for example, the difference in tuition between our University and Miami Dade College.

Even with the University’s relatively low price tag of $5,678 for the average full-time student, Miami Dade College’s average full-time student only pays $3,074, according to collegeboard.com.

In essence, these students saved over $5,000 while getting equal education over a two year period.

Furthermore, the University’s acceptance rate is just under 40 percent, and University President Mark B. Rosenberg’s goal of making the University more selective will likely cause that acceptance rate to drop even further.

Meanwhile, Miami Dade’s acceptance rate stays at 100 percent, thus ensuring every person a spot.

When I was applying for schools, even I knew full well that community college was a safe fallback, should I not get admitted into the school of my choice.

Coupling this with the lesser cost, going to community college first seems like less of an underachiever’s cop-out and more of a viable option.

Unique to Florida colleges and universities is the 2+2 Partnership Program. Since its inception in 1971, any student who receives their associate’s degree in a Florida public community college is assured upper division status once they transfer to an in-state, four-year college or university.

Yes, while I nervously waited for an answer from my upper-division program, I am certain that transfer students who received their associate’s degree in my field went through the application process like water with very little uncertainty.

Lastly, community college serves as a gateway past undergraduate education.

An article in The New York Times profiled several students who, after attending community college, are now attending highly selective schools such as New York University, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Stanford University and others, some as graduate students.

Many of these students cited that attending community college afforded them some of the benefits listed above, in addition to a relaxed environment where they could achieve the high GPA necessary to enter their respective dream schools.

To all of the transfer students: well played. Unlike the rest of us who turned up our noses at the thought of going to community college, thinking of it as a sign of failure, you used it to your advantage.

Not only did you save thousands of dollars, you also secured a seamless transfer into the University. After all, the name of the school on your diploma is ultimately what you will be remembered by.

 

Email jasmyn.elliott@fiusm.com


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