Community college degrees
Community colleges, also known as city or junior colleges, are institutions of higher learning designed to provide educational services to local communities. Community colleges often serve as a cheaper alternative to four years of university-level education. Alternatively, community colleges act as an intermediate level of education in-between high school and university. This is accomplished via academic transfer programs. Community colleges also provide professional and vocational certification in a variety of subjects.
Associate's Degrees
All community colleges offer associate's degrees in a variety of academic majors. Most programs are designed to be completable within two years or an equal amount of full-time credit hours. The benefits of these degrees are two-fold. Through completion of the associate's degree program, the student earns an associate's degree in their major. Community colleges will generally work with local in-state universities to make their credits transferable. This enables the student with an associate's degree the potential to use their community college credits to transfer to a four-year university to earn a bachelor's degree, usually in two to three years.
Certifications
Professional and vocational certifications are also offered by community colleges. These programs are designed to teach specific skill sets rather than academic fields of research. Examples of professional certifications include accounting, firefighting, law enforcement and nursing, just to name a few. These programs vary in length according to the complexity of the material but are generally shorter than associate's degrees.
Transfer Programs
Community colleges also offer transfer programs, designed to send students to a university after completing the required coursework. Completion of general education and usually a declaration of an academic major are required in order to transfer. Transfer programs benefit students by allowing them to take general education courses at community college tuition prices instead of at university cost. Community colleges will often work with universities within the same state to create a streamlined transfer program. It should be noted that associate's degree programs also allow for transfer options but can require more coursework than strict transfer programs.
Bachelor's Degrees
Some community colleges, such as Miami-Dade College, offer bachelor's degrees in select majors. As of May, 2009, only 14 community colleges nationwide have been authorized to grant bachelor's degrees, making bachelor's degrees at community colleges still quite rare. Although tuition rates for these programs have increased, they still remain near standard tuition, offering increased educational opportunities for those who may not be able to afford it otherwise. Majors offered vary from college to college, with Miami-Dade offering degrees in such fields as teaching, nursing, public safety management and law enforcement.
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