A Guided Path
Editor’s note: This is the first in what will be a monthly column’s containing college transition information called A Guided Path, by the staff of South Arkansas Community College. Writers will be on a rotation.
One of the best investments that anyone can make for his or her future is higher education. But the choice of where to go depends on a student’s personal, academic and career goals. Some enter universities directly, while others choose to attend a community college — either as a first step before transferring to a university or as track directly to employment.
The quality of education is comparable, since most faculty members must have master’s degrees and academic standards are assured by accrediting agencies.
Many concerns about credit transferability have been put to rest with the Arkansas Course Transfer System. ACTS provides a list of common courses that are guaranteed to be accepted at Arkansas public colleges and universities. Many studies have shown that students who transfer with an associate degree from a community college meet or exceed the performance of the university-native students.
The cost of tuition at community colleges is about a third of the cost of public universities — nationally, this is about $3,000 a year compared to $9,000 for tuition and fees at a university (which does not account for the costs of housing and meals).
Recently while visiting with one of our students, I asked why she chose SouthArk. “It is close to home, affordable and offers all the general-education courses I need for my first two years,” she said. “I don’t want to be in debt when I get through with my degree!”
Nationally, the average community college class size is 25 to 35 students (at SouthArk, it is often fewer than 20). University classes may be 50, 100 or even 300 students until a student reaches upper-level classes.
While colleges and universities offer student activities such as clubs, organizations and events, universities offer many more extracurricular activities and athletics, in part because students live on campus. Community colleges tend to be “commuter” colleges, since most do not offer housing. Students have diverse backgrounds at both institutions, but community colleges typically have more non-traditional, working students.
College and career readiness is important to the high school graduate’s success in college, and many colleges are implementing programs to increase college preparedness. For example, through Arkansas Department of Higher Education funding, SouthArk provides college and career coaches in Union County schools, high school to college bridge programs in algebra and English and college-level career and general education courses that may be taken concurrently with high school coursework.
Local students have graduated from SouthArk with certificates before graduating from their high schools, thus saving both time and money while preparing them for the workforce or further college education. One 2017 El Dorado High School graduate even had 40 college credit hours by the time of her high school commencement in the spring. That’s like being midway through the sophomore year of college.
Attending college can be affordable if you plan ahead and make wise choices:
• Take advantage of high school Advanced Placement, concurrent and career-center courses.
• Apply for scholarships and financial aid. Every little bit helps to pay for expenses, and you’re not required to accept the aid simply because you’ve applied for it — so there is no downside to applying.
• Choose a career or area of study early in your college career to prevent taking unnecessary classes, or changing majors. When selecting a career path, consider the colleges courses to be taken; length and cost of the academic program; typical professional salary; job responsibilities; and mobility. For example, if you do not want to move — or cannot move — from a particular geographic area upon receiving a degree, it would be wise to select a career path in which jobs in your area are readily available.
• Choose a college that offers the career program for which you are interested.
• If you choose to attend a university, take classes at a community college during the summer or to decrease overall cost and time to completion.
• If you choose to transfer to a university from a community college, work with an advisor to determine courses that transfer.
A Guided Path is a monthly column that provides information about transitioning to higher education, written by the staff of South Arkansas Community College in El Dorado. Dr. Barbara Jones is the president of SouthArk.