Take It From a Grad Student
Keep college costs down

College is expensive. And as you probably know by now, I have a lot of college-loan debt. While I don’t regret getting my bachelor’s degree and now my master’s, perhaps I should have considered the less-expensive route of attending community college.

But it wasn’t cool to go to community college. I remember the jokes about our local one, Luzerne County Community College. “LCCC stands for Last Chance Community College,” the high school kids would snicker. “LCCC isn’t college… it’s the 13th grade,” was another popular jab. 

And being an honors student, I felt there was an unspoken expectation that I attend a “good” school. But what exactly is a “good” school? I guess, at that time, it was one my peers deemed worthy. 

But, I think everyone can agree, a good school is a school with a faculty and an administration that care about its students, a school that helps its graduates find jobs or graduate schools, and a school that promotes the social and intellectual growth of its students.

Based on that definition, most community colleges are good schools. My friends that did go to LCCC were extremely pleased with the education they received there. Many were accepted at larger universities after they completed their associate degree, and all that I can remember hold careers in the fields they studied.

LESSON LEARNED: Community colleges offer quality educations at a cheaper price. And here in Knox County, high school seniors can take advantage of the knoxAchieves program, which provides 500 public high-school graduates with up to $2,000 annually toward community-college tuition.  So don’t rule out community colleges because your friends might not think they’re as cool as the larger universities. Landing a fulfilling job with a fair salary…now that’s cool.

Ashley Cerasaro is a graduate student studying journalism and electronic media at the University of Tennessee. In a regular textme column, she shares her college experiences with high school students so they can be more informed about higher-education issues than she was. E-mail her at acerasaro@utk.edu.