It's actually very easy to be a full-time student at a community college; both my brothers are doing it, while working part time. It's no different than being a full-time student at a university. (I am also a full-time student, but as I'm a full-time distance learning student I don't count in this scenario; however, if I were attending on a campus, I would definitely be full time.) I have a third brother that attended community college full-time twice, for two different degrees; there are plenty of programs that are every bit as time-intensive as anything at a four-year university.
If someone is looking for a particular vocational program that isn't offered at the local community college, then I could easily see them going well out of their way to do it. One of my mother's friend's sons is doing that right now, actually; he's attending a community college a good hour and a half from here because their auto mechanic program is exceptional, while there really isn't one worth speaking of at the CC here. One of my brothers is taking care of his GEs, but his program will require he attend a community college a substantial distance away, because it has the best program in his field in the state. Attending a community college, when looked at from a vocational standpoint, can be very similar to attending a four-year institution. You go where your program is.
Community colleges aren't university-lite; they're focused an entirely different way.
Community colleges aren't university-lite; they're focused an entirely different way.
That's certainly interesting to hear. (And I of course don't mean to disparage 2-year universities; it's just that, in my experience with them, they mainly functioned as semi-universities for people without the luxury of being full-time students. With more 4-year universities delving into more accessible instruction modes such as online classes, I'm not surprised to see this line blurring.)
I also think my experience skews toward community colleges in certain metro areas of the East coast of the USA - an area already pretty lousy with 4-year universities - and that likely colors my experience. I was a peer with high school students who went to community college with the intent of getting credits toward a 4-year degree. And then I was in college for a very long time, and now I supervise technicians and trades without knowing exactly how they got so incredibly good at what they do.
My current job is the research and development of certain automotive systems, and from that perspective I can certainly attest that the successful auto mechanic today requires a level of education and technical skill that's quite incredible compared to people who repaired vehicles even 10 years ago. The (good) auto mechanics today are like the rocket scientists of 30 years ago - and I very seriously think the level of information we expect mechanics to parse and develop into solutions is comparable. My error here was thinking a far greater degree of that was through apprenticeship rather than vocational education, and I'm happy to see I'm wrong and community colleges are stepping up to this challenge of formalizing this educational need.
When I was in high school I perceived community colleges the same way -- that they were there for people to get easy degrees, or credits toward a degree, less expensively and more flexibly than your standard four-year university. My father has worked for the state board for community and technical colleges for our state (Washington) for almost thirty years, and I learned to look at them very differently over time, especially when I went back to school and compared things to my experience at a very large, well-respected four-year institution.
Community colleges are largely vocational schools these days. Yes, there are plenty of people who go with the express purpose of getting credits to transfer toward a full university education, but I would say that the community college student body is more made up of a diverse spread of people whose common thread is that they're looking for career vocational training rather than the more theoretical nature of a traditional university education. My brothers and I are pursuing specific vocational programs; one of my brothers is a firefighter/paramedic, one is going into radiology, and I'm studying business technology and health informatics technology. It's an education laser-focused on the sole purpose of getting a good job in a specific field once you're done, rather than a university education that is frequently used as a springboard to other forms of education (graduate degrees, teacher training, whatever). Since not every CC offers the same programs (or the same caliber of education in any given program), students go wherever their career path takes them, much like choosing a four-year school.
The whole process of going about getting a community college education (for those specifically looking for one, as opposed to people searching for transfer degrees) is really pretty similar to that of selecting a four-year university; the emphasis is just on training for specific jobs instead of studying a given field that may or may not be specific.
If someone is looking for a particular vocational program that isn't offered at the local community college, then I could easily see them going well out of their way to do it. One of my mother's friend's sons is doing that right now, actually; he's attending a community college a good hour and a half from here because their auto mechanic program is exceptional, while there really isn't one worth speaking of at the CC here. One of my brothers is taking care of his GEs, but his program will require he attend a community college a substantial distance away, because it has the best program in his field in the state. Attending a community college, when looked at from a vocational standpoint, can be very similar to attending a four-year institution. You go where your program is.
Community colleges aren't university-lite; they're focused an entirely different way.
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That's certainly interesting to hear. (And I of course don't mean to disparage 2-year universities; it's just that, in my experience with them, they mainly functioned as semi-universities for people without the luxury of being full-time students. With more 4-year universities delving into more accessible instruction modes such as online classes, I'm not surprised to see this line blurring.)
I also think my experience skews toward community colleges in certain metro areas of the East coast of the USA - an area already pretty lousy with 4-year universities - and that likely colors my experience. I was a peer with high school students who went to community college with the intent of getting credits toward a 4-year degree. And then I was in college for a very long time, and now I supervise technicians and trades without knowing exactly how they got so incredibly good at what they do.
My current job is the research and development of certain automotive systems, and from that perspective I can certainly attest that the successful auto mechanic today requires a level of education and technical skill that's quite incredible compared to people who repaired vehicles even 10 years ago. The (good) auto mechanics today are like the rocket scientists of 30 years ago - and I very seriously think the level of information we expect mechanics to parse and develop into solutions is comparable. My error here was thinking a far greater degree of that was through apprenticeship rather than vocational education, and I'm happy to see I'm wrong and community colleges are stepping up to this challenge of formalizing this educational need.
Reply
Community colleges are largely vocational schools these days. Yes, there are plenty of people who go with the express purpose of getting credits to transfer toward a full university education, but I would say that the community college student body is more made up of a diverse spread of people whose common thread is that they're looking for career vocational training rather than the more theoretical nature of a traditional university education. My brothers and I are pursuing specific vocational programs; one of my brothers is a firefighter/paramedic, one is going into radiology, and I'm studying business technology and health informatics technology. It's an education laser-focused on the sole purpose of getting a good job in a specific field once you're done, rather than a university education that is frequently used as a springboard to other forms of education (graduate degrees, teacher training, whatever). Since not every CC offers the same programs (or the same caliber of education in any given program), students go wherever their career path takes them, much like choosing a four-year school.
The whole process of going about getting a community college education (for those specifically looking for one, as opposed to people searching for transfer degrees) is really pretty similar to that of selecting a four-year university; the emphasis is just on training for specific jobs instead of studying a given field that may or may not be specific.
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