Four Year Colleges Vs Community Colleges

Four Year Colleges vs. Community Colleges

Breakthrough Collaborative Five Year Goal: 85% of students enter four year colleges or universities.

Why does Breakthrough emphasize four year colleges and universities? Should Breakthrough programs steer students to use community colleges as “stepping stones” toward bachelor’s degrees?

Would community colleges be cheaper for students? Does it matter where students start their post‐secondary educations, as long as they end up with bachelor’s degrees?

It is true that once students have their bachelor’s degrees, it makes little difference, in terms of earnings potential and job prospects, what path they took to get there. However, the likelihood of earning a bachelor’s degree is significantly
Therefore, the research supports the fact that students are more likely to complete bachelor’s degrees if they start their post‐ secondary educations at four‐year colleges or universities.

Is community college more cost-effective?

Without factoring in financial aid, the average tuition and fees at community college is less than half of the average tuition and fees at a public four‐year institution and 1/10th of the tuition and fees at a private four year institution. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average annual tuition and fees in 2006‐07 was:

• $2,017 ‐in‐state student attending a community college
• $5,685 ‐ full‐time, in‐state student at a public four year college or university
• $20,492 ‐ full time student at a private four year college and university

However, while the tuition and fees at community colleges are significantly less, without knowing a student’s financial aid package at a four year institution, it is difficult to determine the relative
If community college students do manage to transfer quickly and graduate from four‐year colleges, there is little evidence to show that there are significant earning differentials between students who start at community colleges and students who start at four‐year colleges (Kane and Rouse, 1995;
Hilmer, 2000). The problem is that many community college students do not quickly transfer into four‐ year colleges nor do they ultimately complete their bachelor’s degrees.

For those individuals who start at community colleges and don’t transfer to four‐year institutions, there are repercussions in terms of their earnings potential. The average annual median income for adults who have associate’s degrees is approximately $13,000 less per year than adults who have bachelor’s degrees ($32,900 vs. $45,700), or $500,000 less in estimated lifetime earnings (U.S. Department of
Labor,