Fact: According to the IPEDS Fall 2021 Enrollment survey, over 10.2 million students are enrolled in community colleges, which accounted for thirty-five percent (35%) of all undergrads nationwide.

Fact: According to a May 2019 study by the Pew Research Center regarding a rise in share of undergraduates that come from poor families, the share of dependent students who are in poverty skyrocketed from 13% in 1996 to 27% in 2016.

With these things in mind, it is clear to ask one question: How is money involved with community colleges? I mean, sure, not everyone who attends a community college has to be dirt-poor and living in a one-bedroom shed in the middle of nowhere. That is not what I am trying to say.

Yes, any person of any income or class is free to attend a community college. The statistics show. Over one-fourth of the current undergraduate population is consisted of community college students. However, that does not mean that students out of high school do not want to attend four-year universities. In this practical sense, community colleges are now seen for one particular blessing: affordability.

Fact: According to a September 2023 article from Mount Wachusett Community College regarding the pros and cons between universities and community colleges, it states that two-year in-state community colleges cost nearly $4,000-a-year, compared to the nearly $10,000-a-year for public four-year in-state universities. And that was IN-STATE. Imagine the tuition for out-of-state students. Whew. I am not trying to bash on four-year universities. Yes, they are beautiful, and can most definitely offer the same level of education (or even higher) to that of a community college’s curriculum.

Trust me, I know. But you may ponder at what I would know about a four-year university. I’m a recent high school graduate (Class of 2023), and I’m at Northern Essex as a freshman (Class of 2025). What could I POSSIBLY know about the state of four-year universities and their impending future?

Well, you see, I went to a four-year university in the Fall of 2023 prior to Northern Essex. The best that I could say, is that, the sense of community is one-hundred-times better at a four-year university.

The idea of dormitories on a college campus is a revolutionary find in itself, as I found myself to make long-lasting friends and acquaintances through the many connections that I had in my dormitories and classrooms. Hell, I was even making buddies at club volleyball practices. However, although I was having fun, I knew I could not stay for long. Due to the fact that Clark University, my previous school, is a rather pricey private university, I did not have the funds to be paying for an education like theirs. Because of my idiocy, I decided to file a Sallie Mae loan. Worst decision of my life.

Instead of being a smart individual, and taking a cheaper route towards a diploma by doing the community college, THEN four-year university pipeline, I decided to financially screw up my future by signing up for a Sallie Mae loan.

Although I won’t have to start thinking about it until nearly 2027, all of this could have been avoided had I decided to attend community college first.

And, believe me, I knew about Northern Essex long before my high school career dried up. Hell, all of my older siblings (three in total) and my mother had attended Northern Essex at some point of their lives, including one of my siblings currently. It was not like it wasn’t an option for me, anyways.

But, that is the thing. Through my experiences, I felt that students nowadays are more pressured to attend four-year universities and join their affluent friends instead of settling down and taking a easier (and cheaper) route to a diploma.

I have friends who I knew in high school that have gone on to attend top universities such as Stanford and Columbia, and I have friends who I have known since elementary school that have gone on to attend community colleges.

But does anything separate them apart as people? Not to my knowledge. At the end of the day, college in the United States of America is expensive.

And, frankly, I’d rather take my chances to go attend a two-year community college and nab an associate’s degree for less than $6,000 than swim in $100,000+ student loan debt.

Fact: According to a November 2020 study, 2.3% of processed applications for federal student loan forgiveness programs have been accepted. I think I can take my chances.