What International Students Know (That We Don’t) About America’s Community Colleges

There has always been the snubbing of community colleges. And in the past they may have offered the equivalent of a blue-plate-special “college” education, but not any more. The international influx of students from abroad is laying bare the reality that international students are realizing the benefits of our own community colleges and that what these schools have to offer is not at all what we expected.

Each year more than 98,000 international students from all over the world are studying at community colleges. Houston Community College has 3500 international students. Seminole Community College, in Florida, has 1600 international students which is 20% of the total student enrollment.

It seems that international students prefer jump-starting their college careers at the community colleges particularly for their English as a Second Language programs. Outside of this unique offer the other attractions should be just as beneficial to American students, so in the interest of free and open information here’s our “Why YOU should Consider Community College:”

• The value for the cost of the education. Tuition at a community college is generally a quarter that of a private school and half that of a public university. International students have the inside track on saving money their first two years and then they jump into their final two years on a traditional campus all revved up and ready to go.
• Complete your degree at your own pace and if you’re heading to a four-year program, your credits are just as good there.
• You get hands-on experience, a more community-oriented environment and serious devotion to career development. There are some top-notch programs, especially in the technical sector, that provide graduates with immediate access to very well-paying jobs in careers that are going nowhere else but up. And for technical equipment, most community colleges are wired for sound and offer the cutting edge systems often out of reach of many other institutions.

According to the article, No Average Student, Dr. Kay McClenney, the head of the Community College Survey of Student Engagement says:

Community college enrollment is exploding…These colleges receive more respect now…than ever before and in some ways can serve as models of superior ‘education delivery’ to four-year universities.

The new Community College Survey of Student Engagement provides an up close and personal view of the current environment of community colleges in America.

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