Community colleges?

**Yaropolk** · 11-22-2010, 05:20

Posters in this thread a mixing up 2 year vs 4 year colleges and public vs private.

A 2 year community college will give you an associates degree. This degree is not very marketable and limits your ability to apply for certain jobs. In IT it may mean a difference between tech support and programming. Having said that, a community college may be a cheap way to knock out 2 years of education and transfer to a 4 year university for the bachelors. In NJ, all community colleges have a transfer path to the state university.

In today's corporate culture a 4 year bachelor's degree is almost a must. According to the census, a holder of a bachelor's degree, earns approximately 36% more than an associate's holder. http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p23-210.pdf

Some private universities such as Harvard are very prestigious, and will open many doors for you. However, for the vast majority of schools it's just a box to be checked off on your resume. A few years after graduation the distinction between universities fades, and your resume is driven by your work experience.

2 year private college (DeVry, Chub, etc): Don't even think about
Pros: NONE
Cons: Expensive, not marketable, credits don't transfer, very narrow education

2 year community college:
PROS: very cheap, can transfer credits towards a 4 year degree, some states provide upgrade path to state uni
Cons: Associate degree won't get you far, narrow education focused on major, smaller budgets means less experienced teachers, older equipment etc

4 year state university:
PROS: cheaper than a private school for in-state tuition, bachelor's degree, usually very large budgets, well recognized by employers regionally, wide availability of different subjects
CONS: Not recognized by employers nationally

4 year private university:
PROS: some are very well known (Harvard, etc), bachelor's degree, wide availability of different subjects, "best" national uni for a particular subject is usually private (e.g. MIT for computer science, Princeton for physics)
CONS: expensive, most are not well known, except select few budgets will be smaller than state schools

In my eyes, unless you can get into one of the nationally recognized Ivy League type private schools, the best value for your dollar is at your state school. The cost per credit is comparable to community college (for in-state residents), and often times admission gives preference to local applicants. Wide availability of federal loans and grants (www.fafsa.gov) makes it so even the poorest applicant can afford to go to a state school. Having to repay a $30-40k total loan (or less if you live at home) for an in-state bachelors is a hell of a lot less scary than borrowing $100-150k or so for a private school.

**Hooahguy** · 11-22-2010, 05:56

I agree with Yaropolk, but I dont think his statement about 4 year state schools

CONS: Not recognized by employers nationally

is all that accurate. I mean, if that was true, then people would be sticking to the same place they graduated college forever, which isnt true. I think for some jobs thats true, but I think for most its not.

**Hooahguy** · 11-22-2010, 05:57

I agree with Yaropolk, but I dont think his statement about 4 year state schools

CONS: Not recognized by employers nationally

is all that accurate. I mean, if that was true, then people would be sticking to the same place they graduated college forever, which isnt true. I think for some jobs thats true, but I think for most its not.

**naut** · 11-22-2010, 08:18

Yeh, it's a pretty good TV show, but season 2 isn't as good.

**Yaropolk** · 11-23-2010, 19:18

Originally Posted by Hooahguy

I agree with Yaropolk, but I dont think his statement about 4 year state schools

CONS: Not recognized by employers nationally

is all that accurate. I mean, if that was true, then people would be sticking to the same place they graduated college forever, which isnt true. I think for some jobs thats true, but I think for most its not.

By that I meant that inside your local region, employers will be well aware of the state school and you can get a leg up on out-of-region competition. However if you apply for a job on the other coast, chances are the employer has never heard of your school and it won't make a difference if you went to your local state U or a private school.

After your first job, your university matters even less, it's all about experience.

**Hooahguy** · 11-24-2010, 15:55

Originally Posted by Yaropolk

By that I meant that inside your local region, employers will be well aware of the state school and you can get a leg up on out-of-region competition. However if you apply for a job on the other coast, chances are the employer has never heard of your school and it won't make a difference if you went to your local state U or a private school.

After your first job, your university matters even less, it's all about experience.

Fair enough, unless your state school is widely known, like University of Michigan or Berkeley.