The Pleasant Reality of Community College Admissions

The community colleges are very popular in the United States for low fees structure. International students are regular in US community colleges. But there is more to these colleges than just affordability. There are several other reasons that 94,562 international students chose community colleges for their studies in 2017-2018.

Greg Zdanowski, a polish student, studying in community college of the United States, says the primary reason for joining Harper College in Illinois was affordability. He adds that his decision was more strengthened by the welcome and nurturing environment he witnessed at the college. He visited two other universities, but he felt most welcomed at Harper College.

Zdanowski said that his all questions were answered openly during the admission process, and there was no stress involved. 

This is an essential aspect of running an excellent educational institute. Martha M. Parham, the PR vice president of American Association of Community Colleges, says that students should be considering community colleges for benefits like transferring to other universities, smaller batch size leading to better education and saving a ton of money.

Here are some important things for international students to know when getting admission in one of the community colleges of the US:

Academic documents required

Community colleges require students to send a transcript from their high school. International students can contact the authorities of the school they graduated from for the transcript. The document needs to be translated into English if it is in some other language.

Talking about grades, some community colleges require no minimum degrees. They are open to all and more straightforward to get admission into. Few colleges requiring minimum grades have set the bar low. For instance, San Diego College in California needs a minimum grade of 2.0 GPA.

English language tests

The requirements of English proficiency are different in various Community colleges. Some colleges require a minimum TOEFL or IELTS score while others have no such criteria for the admission process. Some colleges also check English proficiency through their entrance exams, while others can judge a student based on his academic records and English courses completed.

San Diego City College has a requirement of TOEFL scores and Delaware Community College in Pennsylvania has no English proficiency requirements. Westchester Community College runs its own English, and math tests to decide the eligibility of candidates.

Fees involved

Community Colleges are known to provide education at much lower costs than private institutions. The costs of application and tuition are low on average. It should be noted that the fee structure varies between different colleges. Some colleges require no admission fees, and others may cost you from 30 to 300 US Dollars.

The tuition costs are also subject to fluctuations. The fees can be anywhere from $2000 to $11000 or more. The average tuition fees of community colleges around the country come at $3660 which is very low when compared to the average of $26290 of four-year colleges (both standards are out-of-state rates)

The community college system in the US is getting popular, and it is no longer associated with low education quality. It is a more accepting educational environment for all classes of society.