Is community college worth it? Is everyone right about me wasting my time?
When I was in high school, community college wasn't even an option. It was straight to university and nothing else. I was actually scared of community college, but I wasn't really sure why. I had always heard that it was a waste of time, a joke, and that there really was no benefit in it.
The most common theory I would hear was that I would get stuck at a community college and wouldn't be able to transfer later on because universities wouldn't accept my credits, and I'd basically have to start from the beginning. This is probably the most absurd thing I've heard since I began attending Arizona Western College. Unless you are being completely careless about what classes you are taking then this shouldn't be a problem.
Just make sure that you are staying on track and using all the available resources. You can use the course Catalog to make sure that you are taking the necessary requirements to stay on track for graduation and transfer.
Why go straight to a university and start off with a giant debt? Of course, if your able to pay for it, then pack your bags, take up that opportunity and go have an interesting away-from-home experience. But if you can't afford the outrageous prices of university, then you can always have the same, and may I add even better, experience right here at AWC.
Class sizes are smaller, and there's a lot more one-on-one help from professors, tutors and advisors. All of these are present at universities, of course, but access is more limited and the waits are longer.
The biggest luxury of attending community college is the cheaper tuition. The exact same classes cost thousands of dollars more at a university. Also, there's no cost here for parking a car on campus.
Another great thing about AWC is that it offers a variety of scholarship and financial aid opportunities, with AWC Foundation, institutional and federal sources of funds available to everyone.
With all that money that you saved from attending AWC you can now start looking into the universities that you want to transfer to. And for that AWC has just the resource for you -- Transfer Services, which provides advice with post-college plans. This office also offers campus visits to NAU, UofA, ASU and GCU (Grand Canyon University).
Let's not forget, you are now able to get your Bachelor's degree right here at home at either the NAU or UofA branch, and FSU is gearing up their offerings as we speak.
AWC also offers several beneficial programs like CAMP, Talent Search, KEYS and Upward Bound.
I guess the only real issue with AWC is that one-person bathroom in the Arts Building, am I right?
Photo Illustration by Pam Black
