ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Twenty-two-year-old Mehreen Khan is an ambitious student from Pakistan looking to capitalize on her education in America. With a large pool of of universities to choose from, Khan took a different approach in selecting a school: she chose community college.
Khan, is one of many students across the nation who are choosing to attend two-year colleges before transferring to a four-year university for their junior and senior years. About 40 percent of undergraduates begin their studies at community colleges, according to a study by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
“I could have gone to other schools, but I chose NOVA (Northern Virginia Community College) for the very basic reason: it was the affordable choice and the education has good quality and you can still afford it,” said Khan whose family lives in Haripur, Pakistan.
During the 2013-2014 school year, CollegeBoard.org found that tuition for students going to public out-of-state four-year universities averaged about $22,203. The tuition cost of a public-four-year school for in-state students was $8,893. Compare those numbers to an average tuition at a two-year institution of $3,264.
In a 2013 report, the Century Foundation said , 11 million students attend community colleges . The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center in 2012 found that 60 percent of students who transferred from a two-year university to a four-year university obtained a bachelor’s or higher degree within four years. Another 12 percent had not graduated but were still enrolled at the four-year university.
Jim McClellan, dean of Liberal Arts at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, said community colleges are the best financial and educational path for some students.
“The quality of education here is as high or higher than a four-year university. Plus the money they save, it just makes sense to come here,” McClellan said. “We have worked to develop guaranteed admission with all of the four-year schools both public and private in our region.”
McClellan says community colleges offer a more tailored education for some students. “We focus on students and the fact that each student learns differently. You won’t see more than 35 students in a classroom here.”
NOVA student Maria Sanabria Fernandez, hopes to use her community college experience to transfer to George Mason University next fall.“ I saw that George Mason has a nice music program. And NOVA gave me all the classes I needed to take to transfer easily there.”
At the Educational Commission of the States National Forum on Education Policy last month, University of Maryland System Chancellor William Kirwan, explained the financial benefits of community colleges. Among the advantages: a student who attends Montgomery County Community College and later transfers to the Smith School of Business at Maryland’s main campus at College Park can save a lot of money. “The state saves something like $15,000 and the student saves $19,000,” Kirwan said during a panel discussion.
“There is a real opportunity for us across the country to create some lower cost, high quality pathways to four-year degrees,” he said.
And students like Mehreen Khan recognize these new opportunities. With hopes of attending Columbia University next year, Khan says any stigma attached to community colleges is all wrong. “Community college is based on quality not quantity. It has the same education as the university level,” she said.