Community colleges:
A smart road to explore

The Virginia Community College System, which includes 23 community colleges on 40 campuses around the state, provides transfer and career and technical education programs. In the 2005-06 academic year, community colleges awarded more than 15,000 degrees, diplomas, and certificates. Increasingly, community colleges are developing transfer agreements with four-year institutions, where students can earn the first two years of a bachelor’s degree at a community college.

Top 10 reasons to apply to a community college

1. Guaranteed transfer and articulation agreements with most of Virginia’s colleges and universities, meaning there may be a place waiting for you at one of the following colleges or universities...

• The College of William and Mary
• University of Virginia
• Old Dominion University
• Virginia Commonwealth University
• Norfolk State University
• Regis University
• Sweet Briar College
• Virginia State
• Virginia Tech, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
• Virginia Tech, College of Engineering

2. “Cash in” on dual-enrollment and articulated credits earned in high school!
Many high school students can apply a semester or more of articulated and dual-enrollment credits to a community college degree.

3. Hot new high-tech programs/courses including:

• Computer forensics
• GIS/GPS
• Motorsports, and more!

In 2006-07, New River Community College became the first college or university in Virginia where students can earn an Information Technology (IT) degree in Game Design and Creation or a Computer Aided Drafting and Design (CADD) degree in animation and virtual world creation.

4. Earn while you learn programs available through college co-ops and intern¬ships
At Thomas Nelson and other community colleges, employers provide tuition and fees for co-op students enrolled in specific technical and health careers programs.

Through business sponsored co-op programs, students can earn work experience (and salaries) while receiving college credits toward their degree.

5. Take college courses in real world business settings!
Students at the new medical education campus at Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) can immerse themselves in a hospital environment while working in patient care. Forget all you think you know about a college classroom environment (large lecture halls, long lectures). In new community college settings like NVCC’s medical education campus, you’ll feel as if you’ve gone to school on the set of ER!

6. Learn business with the biggest and best...
For the fourth year in a row, Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) has been ranked by Community College Week as the top producer of busi¬ness degrees among two-year, degree-granting institutions.

7. Save your money!
In-state tuition and fees for VCCS colleges are approximately 1/3 less than at any of Virginia’s public universities.

8. Boost your earning power!
The average expected lifetime earn¬ings for a graduate with an associate degree is $1.6 million – almost half a million more than the average high school graduate will earn over a lifetime.

9. Sleep until 10 and still go to college full-time.
Community college classes can be scheduled in the mornings, afternoons, evenings, and at night. Some colleges offer weekend-only programs and some have even held classes at midnight! Choose a schedule that suits your preferences.

10. Take classes while you chill at home.
The increasing variety of online courses offered by community colleges allows students to complete an associate degree through a combination of online and in-class learning.

Did you know that…?

• 50% of new nurses and the majority of other new health-care workers were trained at community colleges?
• 95% of businesses and organizations who employ community college graduates recommend community college work-force education and training programs?
• Close to 80% of firefighters, law enforcement officers and EMTs are credentialed at community colleges?
• 45% of all U.S. undergraduates and 45% of all U.S. first-time freshmen are enrolled at a community college?
• Almost half of all undergraduates in the country are enrolled in a community college?

Source: American Association of Community Colleges

Follow the advice of Bill Gates, C.E.O., Microsoft: “In the next seven years, it’s estimated that 80 percent of new jobs in this country will be in high tech. Community colleges have an important role to play in making certain we have skilled workers ready to help businesses take advantage of all the opportunities in the Digital Age.”