Should You Attend a Two Year College First or Go Straight to a Four Year College?

For many students the primary question is whether to attend a two year college first or go straight to a four year college. Two year colleges may offer a degree or certificate in a specific field such as pharmacy or nursing. They also work with many four year colleges and universities to offer the first two years of a traditional college education. In these cases the two year college has a standing agreement with the university so that the student’s admission is guaranteed and most or all of their credits will be accepted.

Many of these agreements include the university approving the curriculum in advance. In these cases where the university pre-approves the curriculum, all of the student’s academic credits will be accepted. Let’s look at some of the advantages and disadvantages to each type of school.

Two year colleges offer several different levels of education such as certificates, two year terminal degrees and transfer programs:
• Your career choice may only require a certificate program which is usually completed in 12 months full time.
• Terminal Technical degrees are programs that concentrate on a specific field such as nursing or computer networking. These programs consist primarily of the core subject classes with only a few general classes like math and some social sciences.
• Transfer programs are designed specifically to let you take the first two years of college at that school and then transfer to the university for that approved the program.

Advantages to two year schools:
• Entrance requirements - most two year schools have open enrollment policies which is good for students who did not graduate from high school or goofed off and did poorly in high school.
• Lower costs – most two year colleges do not have living facilities on campus so students will live in the local area. Also tuition is lower at the two year colleges which will save the student or his family considerable amount of money.
• Transfer programs – students who complete these pre-approved programs are admitted as third year students at the university
• Classes – most two year college classes are taught by people with a master’s degree in their subject area (as opposed to graduate students in many universities) and the teacher-pupil ratio is usually smaller.

Disadvantages
• Majors – there is usually less variety of majors to choose from, especially if you want to transfer to a specific university
• Prestige - most people tend to think a university is more prestigious and provides a better education. While the university may be more prestigious they do not necessarily provide a better education.
• Research – students have less access to research being done by faculty members and no chance to get a job working on the faculty’s research because most two year college professors are adjuncts and don’t do research on campus.
• Higher degree - students must transfer to another school to pursue a higher degree.

Conclusion

You can get an excellent education from a either a two or four year college. Which college you choose should be determined by your personal career goals, your academic history, and your available finances.