Ok, I'm doing some research for John. He has to write a paper about the benefits of going to a community college vs. a unversity and another about the benefits of going to a university vs. a community college. So I'm going to get some stuff off the internet but I was also wondering what your ladies' thoughts, opinions, experiences, etc are. TIA

I went to community college to get my AA and now I'm at UNF for my BA. I like going to UNF a lot better than my community college because I feel like I'm getting more out of my education. But I liked the smaller college feel of the community college (although now that I'm working in my major and not in my prereqs I've got more friends who share my own interests from school) and it was definitely cheaper to go to comm. college. Also I sometimes feel old at the university, it's mostly younger kids whereas the community college had people more my age (32).

Hope that helps!

community college: gives you more freedom (if not locked into a major), cheaper, more flexible hours for working students, can help you transfer to a university later, can help boost your gpa while you prepare for a university, can be easier academically for students with other obligations (families, jobs), offers professional development courses (not just courses towards a degree...ex: technology courses....certification courses)

university: more of a college atmosphere, dorm options, can get more than an AA, more in depth, provides focus on a major, provides more of a community for like-majors, more resources & opportunities, study abroad, advanced degrees

hope that helps!

university...students typically take it more seriously (my cousin went to a comm college & it was basically a glorified high school. none of the kids felt accountable), more technology, more diversity, more opportunities (ie study abroad), profs w/ better credentials (alltho more & more comm college profs have phd's)

community college: gives you more freedom (if not locked into a major), cheaper, more flexible hours for working students, can help you transfer to a university later, can help boost your gpa while you prepare for a university, can be easier academically for students with other obligations (families, jobs), offers professional development courses (not just courses towards a degree...ex: technology courses....certification courses)

university: more of a college atmosphere, dorm options, can get more than an AA, more in depth, provides focus on a major, provides more of a community for like-majors, more resources & opportunities, study abroad, advanced degrees

hope that helps!

wow that pretty much summed up everything that i would have said...i personally prefer universities...love the atmosphere

community college: gives you more freedom (if not locked into a major), cheaper, more flexible hours for working students, can help you transfer to a university later, can help boost your gpa while you prepare for a university, can be easier academically for students with other obligations (families, jobs), offers professional development courses (not just courses towards a degree...ex: technology courses....certification courses)

university: more of a college atmosphere, dorm options, can get more than an AA, more in depth, provides focus on a major, provides more of a community for like-majors, more resources & opportunities, study abroad, advanced degrees

hope that helps!

ita!! :yes

Community college is helping me ease into the univ life and is allowing me to get my credits faster for cheaper cost. I'm going to a univ after my assoc to work toward my BA...

I went to a small community college (Midland College, TX) before transfering to Texas State U. I absolutely loved starting off that way and couldn't imagine jumping head first into a four year school. My sister did that (TX A&M College Station) and I have never seen a more stressed out person in my life. I don't handle stress well, so my decision worked for me. I transfered without an associate's, by the way. My sister, though, handles stress very well. Money didn't have too much of a hand in our choice; it was very minimal. I could have waited till the money was there for university but wanted to get started. Because I did that it took longer to get through (I liked to say I was on the forever plan). My sister, on the other hand, received enough scolarships to start right away and take the four year plan for her major. But I believe--more than anything--that a person's personality can play a large roll in their choice to attend a two or four year school. My sister had the drive and personality to pursue a university, while i'm more laid back and take things slow and not as stressful. Hope that helps him. --Can you tell I was an English major and like to write? :giggle

I started at a big university and eagerly left after 1 year. I hated it there. Too big, too many people, living in a dorm sucked. I hate big lecture halls and professors that will never know your name.

I went to community college for 2 years and LOVED it. I wish I had started there to begin with. It has made me ENJOY going to school. Small classes, professors actually got to know me and NOTICED if I missed class. I just finished my AA this summer. I wish I could finish my bachelor's there!

Community College - Cheeper, You can take some classes just for fun, you can do the fast track an get a certifacate in a field. (thats what im doing)

Over the years I have taken classes at a community college, University )University of Oklahoma) an donline. I have to say the biggest benefit of a community college is the costs are a lot lower for the same credits that you can get in the lower two years vs a university. Community Colleges have gotten much more credible and are easier to transfer the credits than they were about 20 yrs or more ago. It is also a great way for kids who struggled in high school to go to college and ease thier way into it, whereas they may not have been prepared for a big university. Community Colleges also tend to be a lot less "Party" orientated. A number of my high school alumni who went to universities right away wasted a lot of time partying and had to repeat sometimes up to a full year of classes, whereas those of us who chose to go to the community college moved forward a lot quicker.
Now the benefits of a University are having a better variety of programs to study, professors who often are nationally recognized and published in professional journals, a better selection of student organizations and sports programs.
In the end though a lot depends what you are looking to get out of your college education. Most adult students are not going to care about the student organizations, they just want a quality education that is going to get them a good paying job.

Thank you ladies. I've been doing some research and can find a million sites about advantages to going to a community college but have found finding advantges of going to a university pretty difficult. I thought his professor wanted these to be research papers but John said he just wants them to have cited a couple references and that is it. So I guess the paper on universities will be more of a view point paper instead of research. You ladies pointed out things that the sites I have found didn't include and John and myself didn't think of either. I appreciate it. Again thank you.

I think going straight to a university is the best, but it depends on the person.