Students often think of community college as the "13th grade," according to Mike Davis, a writer for Chronicle Careers Web site. However, several AU students who went to community college before attending AU found their experiences at community college to be extremely beneficial.
According to the National Education Center for Education Statistics, 51 percent of undergraduates start at a community college with the intention of obtaining a bachelor's degree. About 26 percent of those who start with an associate's degree will transfer to a four-year institution within six years.
Michael Palinkas, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, is one of the students at AU who attended community college before transferring to AU. Palinkas received his Associates of Arts degree from Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, Ohio, before deciding to transfer to AU.
"Going to community college first allowed me to transition from high school into college," he said.
Community college allows students right out of high school to figure out what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Nicole Lera, a junior in the School of Communication, also said community college helped with the transition to college life.
"When I graduated high school I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and community college gave me two years to take classes to see what I liked and didn't like," Lera said. "It allowed me to find myself and figure out what I wanted my future career to be."
Money also plays a role in a student's decision to attend community college. According to the American Association of Community Colleges, the average annual tuition at public community colleges is $2,191, whereas the annual cost of tuition alone for AU undergraduates, according to the school's Web site, is $29,206.
Robert Eburg, a junior in CAS, said the main reason he went to community college was that it was cheaper.
"I saved a lot of money, that was definitely the biggest benefit," he said.
Eburg decided to transfer to AU because a professor at his community college graduated from here and told him it was a good school.
Some students who went to a four-year university said going to community college first would have been a better decision.
Casey Haron, a sophomore in CAS, said at the time she did not want to go to community college because she did not want to have to change her environment after finishing.
"Now looking back I think it would have been smarter to go," she said. "I would have saved so much money."
Kathy Colburn, a sophomore in the Kogod School of Business, also said she might have gone to community college first to save money.
Aside from saving money, many students find they are not ready to leave home. Lindsay Joy, a junior in the School of International Service, said she "wasn't ready to go away to college." She said being at home while still being able to go to school made the transition to AU easier.
Jeremy Meredith, a junior in CAS, said he too liked the idea of being close to home.
"I could still work and go to school near home," he said.
As far as the myth about community college, being the "13th grade," and the easier way out, all of the students disagreed.
Meredith said thinking this way is "not the right assumption ... community college is very mature," he said.
Palinkas said he had harder professors at his community college than he does at AU.
These students said they are hoping more students realize how beneficial and financially smart community college can be.
"More and more people are going to community college to save money, not because they can't get in anywhere else. ... There is more respect for community college," Haron said.
