First, any education is better than no education, and I don't think anyone should ever turn down a chance to learn anything - if for no other reason than you never know what you might need. Any kind of training, certificates, experience you can get is a hella lot better than not getting it. In a highly competitive world any time you can say "I can do that" is going to be good for you.
So I really don't understand why some people have an issue with community colleges. they're less expensive and you still get the same knowledge from them
I don't have an 'issue' with them, (I taught CC courses often) but I think there are several huge differences that can't be glossed over.
1. The best part of college for most of the people I went to school with, and worked with as they went through the process, was 'getting the hell out of there', regardless of where 'there' was. They had to grow up for sure, but they also got away from all the high school roles that persist long after high school for people who stay in place. They don't get to reinvent themselves in the same way at all - which is a really huge deal. Nor did they get exposed to the non-class college atmosphere of all-nighters in the dorms talking about the stuff you learned and trying to apply it, or the outside lectures, and the number of organizations and activities that you could pursue. I still use the basic event planning skills that I learned in college - not in class, but by working with the people who would organize and execute academic conferences.
2. I taught at the super-huge, big assed NCAA Division I State University, and I also taught at the local very small, extremely liberal private university, and I also taught at the local prison, the local CC and AP high school courses. (hey, I liked money). Same course (intro to AmGov and AmHist parts one and two). But it was hardly the same course at all. At the two universities I had total control. I used a textbook of my choosing, and whatever other materials I chose to use. Those classes were like this:
Uni AmHist - one text (good for both sections) written by a single author (as I like those more), also a book of documents, a book of historical essays and two period novels like Uncle Tom's Cabin and Last of the Mohicans for part one, and Day of the Locust and Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test for the second section.* That's five books. Guided essays were required for the two novels (You had to write to a specific theme that I choose, so no 'book reports'). All tests were essay. I had several week-end take home tests too. What good was teaching if you couldn't kill a few weekends for the kids? (they didn't call me Doctor Death for nothing - but if you had all 'A's up to finals, you could skip the final, I'm not an ogre.)
CC AmHist - One text book, committee written and committee picked, and that was it. Tests were multiple guess (as dictated by the CC) one at mid-term, one at finals. That's it. No writing being judged by someone who could read, no essays on other topics, no take-home tests. One text, two multiple guess tests.
Guess which of those two courses better prepared you for more advanced courses?
3. And this is really, really important. At the Uni (and lots of students had a hard time adjusting to this) I had pretty much one of the top 3 or so students from your high school. And I had that student from every high school in the state. Suzi Creamcheese is back in Podunk preggers, Cletus and Billy Bob are working at the Co-Op, and Buck joined the Army - so all that easy competition you had in HS is no longer competing against you. Now you're up against all the other "straight A" students from the state and as the video games would have it - welcome to the next level. Academically it's no different than it is for the football players. Yeah, you were the superstar linebacker there in the Oskaloosa School District. A head taller and 50 lbs heaver and could bench press more than anyone else you played against there on Friday Nights, but now you're going to be playing Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and you are not going to be the only one without a neck anymore. All those kids who really had no business playing football, but they needed bodies, they are gone. You had one formation in High School, now your running 7 different ones. The playbook goes from 30 plays to over 100. (NFL teams have 250+ for the next, next level, the Ravens allegedly have 600) Different game entirely.
One important difference in the level of work required and the competition is that even if the other students are not all that 'liberal' they for sure have other things to worry about and better uses of their time than to bother you.
DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO GET EDUCATED/TRAINED, nothing will make more of a difference. But always keep in mind what you are really getting, because knowing your limitations is a very important part of the education process.
* - I was also very fond of using Little Women (most guys had never read it), I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Coming of Age in Mississippi, Red Badge of Courage, The Scarlet Letter, Walden Pond, All Quiet on the Western Front, Johnny Got His Gun, God is My Co-Pilot, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit anything that would give them the flavor of the time. I kept mixing them up so I didn't have to read the same essays over, and over, and over again.
