By JANELLE PLUMMER
Observer staff
Oct. 11, 2007

Photo courtesy of Lord Fairfax Community College
Professor Evan Humbert, instructor of mathematics with a student in the Fredy and Klara Kummli Student Center at the Middletown campus.

At this time of year, many high school seniors are preparing to take the SATs, applying to their first-choice schools, and waiting for acceptance letters from Ivy League or prestigious universities. Nevertheless, deciding where to spend the next four years of their lives can be a challenging decision.

Some young people say the community college experience is not worth it, but in the long run experts say attending a community college for the first two

years of college can save students’, or their parents’, money.

One high school senior said that he is aware that most people attend a community college to save money, but he said attending a community college is like continuing on in high school.

Evan Bratcher, 17, a senior at Henry E. Lackey in Indian Head, Md., who plans to study civil engineering at a four-year university in the fall of 2008, said that where he lives, people look down on community colleges.

“It’s a waste of time,” Bratcher said. “My grades are good enough to get me into a four-year university. I don’t want to go to a community college.”

Bratcher said that many young people attend community colleges in Charles County, Md., because they did not have the grades to get into a four-year university, or because they were too lazy to fill out applications.

Bratcher, an honor roll student, completed summer-program study engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. He said he has high expectations of experiencing campus life next year.

“I want to get the college atmosphere,” he said, and to experience “the college lifestyle without parents.”

Dr. Steven Chasin, deputy director in the Division of Postmarket Surveillance at the Food and Drug Administration in Rockville, Md., teaches economics part-time at Montgomery College. He said community colleges are good for some students and not for others.

Students must weigh the costs and benefits, before choosing a college that is right for them, he said.

“Certainly going to a community college for money purposes is valid,” Chasin said. However, he said, “a student who is focused and financially stable should go to a four-year college or university.”

If students want to be academically challenged, Chasin suggests they attend a four-year college or university.

“[Community College courses] are not rigorous [compared to] what you would get at Marymount, George Washington or American University,” Chasin said.

Chasin, who taught health economics at American University years ago, said the economics course is not as rigorous at Montgomery College, a community college.

Cindy Bambara, vice-president of student success at Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown, Va., said students can definitely save money at a community college.

Two-year community colleges remained an educational bargain, according to U.S. News and World Report in 2006.

The College Board estimated that a student who does not receive any financial aid, but lives at home and attends a community college could finish his freshman and sophomore years for as little as $8,000. This includes textbooks and transportation to and from classes.

Bambara said that’s less than half the cost of a four-year public institution or state school.

“There are financial considerations that students can save a great deal of money,” Bambara said, “and earn their associate in arts and sciences degree and then transfer.”

“Students live at home and save room and board,” she said. “You have high quality education doing your first two years at a community college. There is more individualized attention.”

Photo courtesy of Lord Fairfax Community College
Students outside Lord Fairfax Community College.

So, what if a high school student does not get into the college of his first choice?

Bambara said a student could come to a community college, do well and meet the guaranteed requirements of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). Then she could re-apply to that institution, competing as a transfer student rather than as a high school senior.

While many young people attend community colleges and expect to transfer, Bambara said they must investigate possible transfer institutions.

“First of all you need to identify where you want to go,” she said. “Enroll in a transferable program [at your community college].”

Bambara also encourages students to visit the institution they want to transfer to and walk around the campus.

“Get a feel for the campus,” she said. She said you could come to LFCC and earn a 3.0 and transfer on the guaranteed admissions program at James Madison University.

That is what former LFCC graduate Gaggandeep Kamboj, 24, did after graduating with an associate in arts and sciences degree in pre-med and pre-pharmacy in 2004. Bambara said that obtaining an associate degree in arts and sciences degree from a community college gives the student a feeling of accomplishment.

“It’s a milestone,” she said. “We’re excited about our transfer programs that all of our students are able to take advantage of, [and] we are headed in a very positive direction. It benefits all of the citizens of the commonwealth. It’s an efficient and rich pathway to a bachelor’s degree.”

Kamboj definitely agrees, and she praises the community college experience.

“It was a very smart choice,” Kamboj said. “I’m glad I started at a community college. Personally, I wasn’t ready to go on my own. I wanted to experience what college was like. I wanted the one-on-one connection with my professors.”

Kamboj said she felt right at home at LFCC. She said a university just couldn’t offer that. She will graduate with a pre-med degree from JMU in December.

In the end, Chasin believes that community college can have its place for the right student.

“The big thing you lose is the living arrangements and living on your own,” Chasin said.

India Harris, a senior at the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Conn., agrees.

Harris attended Westlake High School in Waldorf, Md.

She said that by attending a four-year university, she has learned to interact with her peers on a social level.

“Because I attended a four-year university,” Harris said, “I have the opportunity to be a Resident Assistant (RA), which is a person that mediates, coordinates events, and assists a specific group of residents with their needs.”

“Being an RA allowed me to see life from a new perspective,” Harris said. “I believe I have gained a new appreciation for family, friends and loved ones. It helped me to meet various types of people that I originally did not have the opportunity to [meet]. I also had the chance to influence and help develop an individual’s character. Now that’s an experience you will only get at a four- year school.”