Spring Break
Education at NCC well-chosen bargain
Community college experience keeps debt down and learning high
Eric Shirk Special to The Commuter
Issue date: 2/3/08 Section: Opinion
College isn't cheap. I'm going to walk away with a debt of more than $25,000. Though that's one intimidating number for me to stare down, it could easily have been more than double if I had done only one thing differently.
No, I'm not talking about my strict ramen-only diet.
I completed my first two years of college at Northampton Community College, which allowed me to save some money.\
See, I'm paying my own way through school. Sure, I get some help through grants and scholarships, but still I knew I'd need to take out student loans to help offset housing, books and tuition.
I knew that four years on that course would leave me with more debt than I felt was manageable.
So I chose NCC.
Before I enrolled, I felt like I was doing myself a disservice. I heard all the jokes and questions: Community college is like 13th grade. Why wouldn't I want to go to a "real" college?
But community colleges are a good alternative for the first two years. Thirty-five percent of people who graduate from NCC will further their education at another school, but even when that isn't the case, 93 percent of graduates of career (not general studies) programs find a job within a year, according to NCC's Web site.
A year of classes at NCC cost just a little more than $2,200, not including the cost of books. Plus, there was the advantage of being able to live at home for free. Compare that to the $16,000 a year I pay on tuition and rent here at Penn State.
I definitely don't feel like the 78 percent lower tuition came with a matching 78 percent lower education. Northampton offered me all the opportunities I could hope for during my first two years of college.
Though I can't say if I've missed out on anything potentially life altering by not spending my freshman and sophomore years as a Penn State student, there are things I can tell you that I gained at Northampton.
When I first went to college, I didn't know what I was good at, what I liked or what I wanted to pursue. While I spent my first two years at Northampton getting my general education courses out of the way, I found something -- direction.
No, I'm not talking about my strict ramen-only diet.
I completed my first two years of college at Northampton Community College, which allowed me to save some money.\
See, I'm paying my own way through school. Sure, I get some help through grants and scholarships, but still I knew I'd need to take out student loans to help offset housing, books and tuition.
I knew that four years on that course would leave me with more debt than I felt was manageable.
So I chose NCC.
Before I enrolled, I felt like I was doing myself a disservice. I heard all the jokes and questions: Community college is like 13th grade. Why wouldn't I want to go to a "real" college?
But community colleges are a good alternative for the first two years. Thirty-five percent of people who graduate from NCC will further their education at another school, but even when that isn't the case, 93 percent of graduates of career (not general studies) programs find a job within a year, according to NCC's Web site.
A year of classes at NCC cost just a little more than $2,200, not including the cost of books. Plus, there was the advantage of being able to live at home for free. Compare that to the $16,000 a year I pay on tuition and rent here at Penn State.
I definitely don't feel like the 78 percent lower tuition came with a matching 78 percent lower education. Northampton offered me all the opportunities I could hope for during my first two years of college.
Though I can't say if I've missed out on anything potentially life altering by not spending my freshman and sophomore years as a Penn State student, there are things I can tell you that I gained at Northampton.
When I first went to college, I didn't know what I was good at, what I liked or what I wanted to pursue. While I spent my first two years at Northampton getting my general education courses out of the way, I found something -- direction.
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