community colleges

[senta]

Are they offering graduate studies (Master of Arts, Master of Science)? If they do, how excepted are the programs they offer? In what aspects do they differ from (state of private) University offered master degrees?

Thanks,

Darko

[Dule]

Community colleges do not offer Master programs. They do not even offer Bachelor programs. Commnity colleges are 2-year schools that offer Associate Degree. Usually, a person can continue his/her education by enrolling a standard 4-year college to get a Bachelors Degree. After that, you can enroll Master studies...

*maybe admin, as usual, would like to add something to my reply*

[senta]

Thank you Dule for the answer you gave,

Any response from Elz to confirm the Dule`s information?

:-)

[elz]

Dear Senta,

     Sorry for the delay...I decided to use your topic to provide general information on Community Colleges and wanted to have a chance to look through the recent guide that I received from the American Association of Community Colleges.  Now Dule is correct that Community Colleges are not for graduate level studies.  On the other hand, as a graduate student, please bear in mind that 44% of all international students receive full funding for their graduate studies from the university where they are enrolled.  Thus, you have really good opportunities.

      Now about community colleges.

In general, community colleges offer three types of programs:

AA degree (an associate in the arts - 2 years)

AS degree (an associate in the sciences - 2 years)

Vocational training cerftificates or licenses (1-2 years)

Most students look at a community colleges as a way to obtain the first two years of university education, "called undergraduate courses" in a smaller and less expensive environment that will lead to an opportunity to transfer to a four year institution in order to complete a bachelor's degree.

Thus, most international students are interested in the Associate Degrees.

This is a system referred to as 2 + 2.  There are currently more than 75,000 international students attending community colleges.  Thus, although referred to as community colleges, most of these 2 year institutions have a global perspective.  

In addition to the economic advantages, community colleges often provide a more intimate learning environment.  This can provide international students with the opportunity to get more personalized attention as they adapt to the American education system.  Many community colleges have agreements with certain four year institutions so that transferring can be very easy.  

However, a student who is planning to study on the 2 + 2 program needs to be sure that the community college of their choice has these working agreements in place.  Some community colleges will actively help international students during the transfer process and will do all that they can to assist outstanding students in obtaining financial assistance at a four year institution.  Therefore, it is important that students find community colleges that are very pro-active in this.  

I hope that this provided a broad overview about community colleges and we would welcome any further questions on this matter.

Best,

Elz