Community College: Social status vs. practicality

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OPINION

By: Jacob Freehart

Staff Writer

Hudson Valley Community College has a bad reputation for students who don’t go to the school, just because it’s a community college, but they don’t understand how beneficial it truly is.

When reviewing reasons on why people didn’t consider community college on their list of college options, many people’s ideas were similar and didn’t relate to the benefits the community college offers.

Students want to live independently from their parents, craving the feeling of being an adult and taking care of themselves. This was by far the most popular reason, encompassing a variety of other smaller reasons that also fall into this category.

Examples of this include: people wanting to be in charge of themselves financially, wanting to make more important decisions for themselves, etc.

Another reason why people don’t consider going to a community college is the party scene. Hudson Valley Community College is a commuting college and so are most community colleges, so the option of meeting with friends after classes and partying on campus doesn’t exist. Partying and large mixers at fraternities or sororities are very enticing but the party scene is virtually non-existent at Hudson Valley Community College.

Lastly, location is also a huge decider for what choice of college you want. This reason mostly obtains to Hudson Valley Community College versus other community colleges because of the weather. A lot of students might want to move to a much warmer place than the Northeast, or to a large city with many sites to see.

Many students at Hudson Valley Community College attend because they are unsure of the career they want to pursue, thus leaving them with a difficult decision to make.

Hudson Valley has multiple advisors and specific departments that can help people find what they are good at without too much risk. You can do this same exact process at other colleges, however, the difference is that you are paying thousands of dollars more (depending on whether or not you go to a state or private university).

Tuition at Hudson Valley Community College is $2,500 to $5,000. A private 4-year college can cost around $47,000 and a SUNY school costs around $14,000.

One of the biggest issues in today’s nation is the ever-increasing student debt of current and former students. By going to a community college students can avoid large sums of debt and not be crippled financially.

With all of these advantages and great options, there is still a stigma and negative outlook upon the idea of community college. This perception and train of thought are almost perplexing because of all the benefits that can be obtained, but this lies not in the benefits that a community college offers, but what it might not offer.