White Picket College

Firstly, I have to write this article in first-person because these true stories are so important to show my point.

When I grew up, attending community college courses had a stigma attached.  The slackers in my high school who couldn’t get it together went to community college (cc).  But looking back I’m not sure my viewpoint was accurate – in fact, I think I was completely wrong.

First all of, going to cc saves a ton of money.  Check out this article to see exactly how much: Community College, Stigma or Steal?

Here are two personal stories that completely changed my mind on cc.

After college, I met a woman who graduated from Georgetown.  Quite an impressive university.  When inquiring further about her education, I found out that she spent her first two years at a community college program!  And then transferred into Georgetown for her junior and senior years.

Her diploma says Georgetown.  And that’s all that matters.

Second story.  I took a class with a woman who was an admissions recruiter for New York University – the college I where did my Master’s.  She missed class often because she traveled all around the world for recruiting sessions in places like Asia and Africa and all around the US.

She and a fellow classmate got into a discussion before class one day.  “Where did you go to undergrad?” she asked the classmate.  He responded that he went to cc first then transferred to Franklin College in Switzerland (wow, nice life!).

Immediately, she stopped the conversation and said, “CC students are my favorites.  They’re so prepared and ready for university.”  And then they went back to talking about Switzerland.

CC serves as a good way to get in the door of these big name schools such as Ivy League universities.  Rising college costs at private universities in the US are not rising, they’re soaring.  To offset the cost for the upper middle class (UMC), we must start examining other options such as cc.

If this thought depresses a UMC parent, keep in mind the end goal: to graduate from a big name university.  And it is very possible if the student works hard in cc, achieves excellent marks, immerses her/himself in extracurricular activities and has a job or internship on the side.  Also, if the student does a good job, in addition to the lower tuition at community college, s/he may receive a community college scholarship.

It’s a lot of work but community college students can most certainly get there.

I’ve seen the success stories with my own eyes.

© White Picket College, 2010 – College Funding for the Upper Middle Class