The only people who deserve a decent education are the kids smart enough to be born to parents who got rich through war profiteering or raping 401ks.

Commies!


/once had a GA Tech Engineering grad working for me
//dumb farker was doing pullups on a door frame
///molding fell and he cut his arm pretty bad
////guess they didn't cover that at GT

doublesecretprobation: i make more money and have a better job than all of the people i know who have 4 year degrees. that said, most of the people who go to cc's are idiots.

Unless you work some tiny subsector of U.S. employment (building motorcycles?) or are self employed, more than likely you will find that lack of a degree a major impediment to career progression and those people you know will soon vastly outpace you in salary. Virtually every bureaucracy in existence now uses a Bachelors degree, regardless of major, as a sweeping barrier in employment and promotional considerations.

True a self taught welder can make a significant upper middle class income, but who becomes the floor manager after 10 years in employment? The one who got that Business Management degree at bob's of college of knowledge. In fact, higher educational pursuits are used to weed out applicants at every stage of career advancement. It only makes sense to knock out the minimum requirement at such a young stage in life prior to entry in the workforce.

There are exceptions to the rule, but it makes sense for one aspiring to something other than "rock star" to cover one's bases and prepare for the requisites most often faced by the general working public.

When all else fails, buy the next election with bread and circuses.

Beware the vociferous pro-CC Farkers on here- they can get downright nasty in defense of their degrees.

That said, I support CC in terms of training for a vocational degree. Otherwise, you're putting yourself at a severe disadvantage (I'm looking at you, Business Admin majors). At least, that's the consensus of the CC attendees that I know. Employers look at transcripts, and can be pretty judgmental about people with CC credits & degrees (fairness aside). I'm not surprised that there are some successful Farkers that went to CC's, based on the general population here. In the real world, I'm guessing there's a greater proportion of people that wanted the easiest route for a degree (again, not talking about vocational stuff).

/Calm down
//Never met anyone in real life that thought CC classes were more than a joke

IXI Jim IXI: Bendal: Anyone who says a CC is nothing more than extended high school has never attended one, and is sadly ignorant about how much value they provide to the local job market. Nursing, CAD training, education and surveying are all taught at CC's.

Just be careful how your credits transfer to the school you're looking at. I was pissed as all hell when I slogged through civil war history just to watch it transfer as an elective.


That is the issue with CCs, you have to ensure that all the credits are able to transfer to the university you are going to.

I was able to pay for my 4 years at good ole PU by working 3 jobs, delivering papers and selling pencils on the street corner. That is why I make eleventy jillion dollars a year, and teh Community College kids have to fight Mexican day laborers for a spot in front of Home Depot. Can I join the Internet Bootstrappy Farkers Club?

Englebert Slaptyback: IXI Jim IXI

It must've been the way they divided ours up. I was the solar system


Geez, look at the ego on this guy.


:-)

LMFAO! That was great...

Obama wants more college grads so more people get better jobs and can pay more income tax.

wee beastie: All of you putting down 2-year, public colleges really need to re-assess your belief that everyone who could, should go to a traditional 4-year institution. Community colleges and for-profit colleges (ITT / U of Phoenix) are the ones training your nurses, lab techs, mechanic, HVAC repairman, plumber, electrician, paralegals, etc. I could go on and on; the list of jobs they train for is mindnumbing. The fact of the matter is that over 50% of the jobs in the world do not need a 4-year college education.

These schools have tremendous job placement rates. Don't believe me? For-profit ed providers (ITT / UofP / Lincoln) are mandated to provide this data to the govt (including starting salaries) or they can't participate in Federal lending programs to the students. Show me any 4-year college that will publish that hard data. Fact of the matter is they won't.

Community colleges provide a necessary service at a cheap cost, and it represents a sector that has been shunned and ridiculed for decades while the economy has boomed. Now that the market is turning around and traditional 4-year students are having difficulty finding jobs, we are beginning to realize that we've been overeducating below average individuals who would have been better served with a 2-year degree and less student debt.

U of Phoenix is a joke. Anyone that is hiring will not so much as look at a U of Phoenix graduate. Try getting an engineering degree there and then telling other engineers that you are also an engineer. You will be laughed at.

I agree with a lot of your post, but that school scams the poor and ignorant into taking out student loans for worthless degrees.

Difference is when I graduated from community college with my nursing degree, I had NO DEBT OR STUDENT LOANS and I get paid as much as a four year nurse. The difference? I didn't have the time to get manicures between busting my behind in class and busting my behind in clinicals.

And oh, that's right, the waiting list to get into my alma mater's nursing school is longer than ANY SCHOOL IN THE TRISTATE AREA because it's ranked as one of the most competitive programs AND has one of the highest passing rate for the NCLEX (nursing license test) in the state.

Community College: Three times more for three times less.

Wow. It's great to see so many people with positive experiences and comments about CCs. Um. There's absolutely nothing for me to biatch about. Hm.

/twiddles thumbs

sboyle1020: letdown102: Completely agree with the President on this one. Community colleges are perhaps the most cost-effective ways to get higher education. The credits transfer to most 4 year schools, and even many graduate schools recommend community colleges to incoming students who need to make up some undergraduate prerequisites.

Completely agree. I knew some people in high school who didn't get into their college of choice, so they went to CC, did extremely well and eventually transferred. Definitely a good thing. I mean look at Rudy.

THIS. I'm writing this post from a community college so I'm really getting a kick...

I've been teaching at the CC for years, and they are highly underrated and should be pushed as much as possible. At the Community College you get people who like to teach and actually care that their students learn. Some places suck, that's true, but many outclass the far more expensive 4 year universities.

Too many people think that going to a community college is a defeat of some sort. Not enough High Schools promote it as an option, wanting to boost the numbers of graduates going to "real" colleges. As a result, students who aren't ready for a 4-year wind up failing out and spending a lot of money. A CC is more economical and a better in-between ground for many students.

/The Ivy Leagues can suck it.

Community College IS 13th grade. But who said that's a bad thing?

Our school system generates a lot of high school graduates who lack the requisite skills to enter the skilled workforce or continue on to a 4-year college program. Community colleges are a convenient and efficient way for those grads to develop their abilities.

The financial benefits for capable but low-income students are notable, too. My stepmother went from high school dropout to PhD, and community college was part of how that was possible.

Also, community college saved MY ass when the time came for my university graduation. Curriculum changes left me 1/2 credit short of the requirements, but I was able to get transfer credit for a Pascal programming course I had taken one summer many years earlier, despite the CS courses at the university being taught in Java by then.

Arklop: As a fully-trained and licensed ditch digger, I resent your dismissive attitude of my highly skilled profession.

Shenanigans. If you were really fully licensed, you'd be using the official title as adopted by the trade organization: Certified Soil Displacement Engineer.

/or "CSDE" for short

DROxINxTHExWIND: BlorfMaster: Rockdrummer: I teach a community college class. My first peer review said "Ease up on the requirements, after all this is a community college, not a university." Is it the mindset that community college is a dumbed down college education? Things like my experience don't help the reputation.

I took astronomy as a science requirement in both a community college and a major university.

Community college: learn the name of the planets, go to the planetarium and look at the pretty stars. Watch a few 'NOVA' episodes'.

University Level College: Learn Kepler's law and calculate the orbits of various planets. Learn Newtonian physics and calculate various things. Exams were almost all math.

HUGE difference.

But, if you didn't know what the CC taught you, then you CERTAINLY would not know what to do once you got the university level exam. It did exactly what it was supposed to do...prepare you. Oh, and let me know the next time you make a single dollar for knowing Newtonian physics, outside of a classroom.

I manage a team of PhD's that do quite nicely salary-wise, so I'm getting a kick out of this reply. Although they are chemists, not physicists.

IXI Jim IXI: When they reach that first question, "How old is the universe?", that probably weeds out a few right there.

I lol'd

Damnhippyfreak: Wow. It's great to see so many people with positive experiences and comments about CCs. Um. There's absolutely nothing for me to biatch about. Hm.

Damn underachiever.

fenianfark: U of Phoenix is a joke. Anyone that is hiring will not so much as look at a U of Phoenix graduate. Try getting an engineering degree there and then telling other engineers that you are also an engineer. You will be laughed at.

I agree with a lot of your post, but that school scams the poor and ignorant into taking out student loans for worthless degrees.


I agree, teachers get paid more when they get their masters and doctorates, so they flock to Phoenix U. like moths to a light.

I took every class I could at CC, saved thousands of dollars. They all transfered to the University that is on my resume.

Plus there were alot of girls there with self esteem issues.

Damnhippyfreak: Wow. It's great to see so many people with positive experiences and comments about CCs. Um. There's absolutely nothing for me to biatch about. Hm.

/twiddles thumbs

let me get you started: if it weren't for the damn lazy hippies that go to CCs, they probably wouldn't have such a stigma attached to them in the first place.

I won't knock Community colleges - i got a couple of credits in on the cheap that transferred to A&M for my main degree... it was easy, effective, and one of the only reasons i graduated on time.

That being said -- if you want to increase the quality of education and students coming out of any higher education... start toughening up middle and high schools.

No more of this "we will let you slide" crap

Whatever your view are on CC, I have to say that putting a higher priority on building the educational foundation of this nation and strengthening the skilled workforce is a good thing. Kudos.

At the CC that i go to, it is hit or miss. Sometimes the classes are amazing and I get so much out of them that I can't wait for the next class. And then other classes make me grind my teeth at the absolute absurdity. Yeah I'm looking at you 60 something year old grandmother type who teaches Computer Programming I.

CC is great for someone like me who was pushed into the military after high school.

\Northern San Diego County

atlanta_ufo: fenianfark: U of Phoenix is a joke. Anyone that is hiring will not so much as look at a U of Phoenix graduate. Try getting an engineering degree there and then telling other engineers that you are also an engineer. You will be laughed at.

I agree with a lot of your post, but that school scams the poor and ignorant into taking out student loans for worthless degrees.


I agree, teachers get paid more when they get their masters and doctorates, so they flock to Phoenix U. like moths to a light.

Agreed. It is a way to get a "degree" with little to no work. There are sites dedicated to exposing them for what they are.

Wulfman
for an education you coulda got for $1.50 in late charges at the public library.


If you steal a line from a movie make it one thats old enough to be obscure.

Most of the people who bash community colleges got shiatty degrees from shiatty state schools. This helps to pump their ego by having someone to put down.

And I fully recognize those of us with good degrees who went to good schools shiat on those of you with shiatty degrees from shiatty state schools.

Hey it's the circle of life.

dogfood: I took every class I could at CC, saved thousands of dollars. They all transfered to the University that is on my resume.

Plus there were alot of girls there with self esteem issues.

The only problem is that most of them lived with their parents.

Show me the funding of community colleges in the constitution!

/Another abuse by runaway government

Dangl1ng: Yeah I'm looking at you 60 something year old grandmother type who teaches Computer Programming I.

LOL! At least these days, you can easily network with former (or current) students and ask about particular professors.

tweekster: The only problem is that most of them lived with their parents.

So what? If you even have a shiatty one room apartment, that'd make you king of all you survey.

I was just checking to see if this is where a bunch of kids who partied at the university on daddy's dime denigrate those people who worked while attending a community college so they could better themselves. I see that it is. Carry on

IXI Jim IXI: Like how an educated workforce will pay more in taxes?

And also pay for us old people...right Jim!

HenryFnord: Can we call them what they are - vocational schools?

THIS. There's a sad disconnect between what CC's really teach and what the name implies. For the longest time, most full-time 4 year colleges and univeristies tried like hell not to accept all sorts of credits from CC's. I had the rather curious experience of getting a CC to accept my 4-year college credits (not like I wanted to take English 101 again).

Can you get an undertaker's certificate from Harvard?

Blowmonkey: The_Sponge: - Chris Rock

A real beacon of intellectual thought that one.


It's still funny.

My $0.02:

Community college is what you make it. I've met plenty of people like my SO who started at a community college, then transferred over to a 4 year school. (She graduated from UW.)

But I've also met the lazy airheads who take a few classes at the CC, then drop out.

letdown102: Completely agree with the President on this one. Community colleges are perhaps the most cost-effective ways to get higher education. The credits transfer to most 4 year schools, and even many graduate schools recommend community colleges to incoming students who need to make up some undergraduate prerequisites.

Any school that DOESN'T accept the credits from a CC that is accredited by the same organization should have its accredidation revoked.

The two years spent in CC and getting an Associates Degree is the same as spending 2 years at a 4 year school and getting an Associates Degree. English 101 is English 101 no matter where you get it if they follow the standard course curriculum. If they don't then they can't call it English 101. (or whatever course)

agoodbook: If you steal a line from a movie make it one thats old enough to be obscure.


Bah, I could only be accused of stealing it if I had some expectation that people wouldn't recognize it.

AlwaysRightBoy: And also pay for us old people...right Jim!

Hey...when you plan on living forever, this become a very important concern...

Arnold T Pants: Yea, keep on spending. It's not like this country is running the largest deficit in the history of the world. I think Obama needs to go to one of these colleges. It probably wouldn't hurt if freshened up on basic economics first. You know, the basics you learn in middle school.

I don't know where you went to middle school, but at my business school at my right-leaning private university, they were still pushing the Reagan-approved, Chicago School idea that deficits don't matter.

liverleef: I was just checking to see if this is where a bunch of kids who partied at the university on daddy's dime denigrate those people who worked while attending a community college so they could better themselves. I see that it is. Carry on

you sound poor

Benjimin_Dover: The two years spent in CC and getting an Associates Degree is the same as spending 2 years at a 4 year school and getting an Associates Degree. English 101 is English 101 no matter where you get it if they follow the standard course curriculum. If they don't then they can't call it English 101. (or whatever course)

It depends on the course. For instance, they claimed that my history class was "too specialized"...and then offered me Asian History for my History credit.

BTW, not only are there a lot of girls with self-esteem issues, there's usually a decent amount of turnover, so there's always a fresh face.

Ludendorff's Ghost: THIS. There's a sad disconnect between what CC's really teach and what the name implies. For the longest time, most full-time 4 year colleges and univeristies tried like hell not to accept all sorts of credits from CC's. I had the rather curious experience of getting a CC to accept my 4-year college credits (not like I wanted to take English 101 again).

At least in WA state, if you have Associates from Community College, all in-state public universities have to accept that as their 2 year pre-req's for degree programs. It makes things simple.

As someone going to a CC I have to say they are pretty hit or miss. I went on the advice that a lot of you are repeating here. However, I'm currently taking classes that are about HS level, most of the people are barely literate, and my professors range from barely competent to annoying liberal douchebags who think the classroom is a soap box (yeah, I know a 4 year has those too but they just feel so much less appropriate at a 2 year). I'm sure there are good ones but I'm not at one.

/Not sure if I can finish without kicking one of the unwed mothers in the stomach.

Benjimin_Dover: letdown102: Completely agree with the President on this one. Community colleges are perhaps the most cost-effective ways to get higher education. The credits transfer to most 4 year schools, and even many graduate schools recommend community colleges to incoming students who need to make up some undergraduate prerequisites.

Any school that DOESN'T accept the credits from a CC that is accredited by the same organization should have its accredidation revoked.

The two years spent in CC and getting an Associates Degree is the same as spending 2 years at a 4 year school and getting an Associates Degree. English 101 is English 101 no matter where you get it if they follow the standard course curriculum. If they don't then they can't call it English 101. (or whatever course)


Courses like Principles of Mathematics usually have no equivalent at a 4-year, so you have to ensure the courses you take at CC transfer.

HenryFnord: Can we call them what they are - vocational schools?

That depends on the curriculum.

While some complete a two-year AA or AS "work-force" degree, others use CC's as a low cost alternative to the fist two years of a BS or BA degree.

...and, in the future...

...try not to sound like such an elitist douche-nozzle.

Howie Spankowitz: brigid_fitch: Howie Spankowitz: HenryFnord: Can we call them what they are - vocational schools?

Well, since that's not what they are, I would advise against it. I think community college captures the gist.

True--community colleges are like grades 13 & 14. For when you can't get into a real college.

/Went to community college for 1 year because, although I got accepted into the university I wanted, I couldn't get housing that year.
//Besides, since my father was a head of security @ the CC, tuition was free.
///Classes were a joke. Got a 4.0 and never bought a book.

Yeah...you went to a shiatty community college. They do exist. You chose a bad one. I have had involvement with CC's as a student, staff person, consultant and United Way exec and have seen first hand the positive impact they have had.

Agreed. It is your fault for not doing the proper research and finding a decent community college, and it is unfair and not at all correct to lump all CC's into a learn-nothing trash heap. I can say with a good deal of confidence that I learned more valuable skills and overall, just learned more at my community college than I did at the four-year university that followed.

Also, I dropped out of high school and earned my GED at 22, and I would never had the opportunity to attend a university, or even to give college a try if it weren't for California community colleges. Oh, and you feel the need to deride community colleges and choose to underestimate its utility, you are a snotty a-hole.

/De Anza College rocks
//SFSU was OK

IXI Jim IXI: Benjimin_Dover: The two years spent in CC and getting an Associates Degree is the same as spending 2 years at a 4 year school and getting an Associates Degree. English 101 is English 101 no matter where you get it if they follow the standard course curriculum. If they don't then they can't call it English 101. (or whatever course)

It depends on the course. For instance, they claimed that my history class was "too specialized"...and then offered me Asian History for my History credit.

In my case they bent over backwards with course transfers and calling it an equivalent. Some weren't even in the same department but they asked me what we covered and they would say "close enough". But then again a lot of classes were specialized and would change in 4 years anyways. A class might fill a requirement that will only be offered for one semester.

dlime16:

/Not sure if I can finish without kicking one of the unwed mothers in the stomach.

Well, kick one of the unwed mothers-to-be in the stomach...at least then you're getting something done.

Okay, I think it's time to shift gears a bit and call out Subby on the headline. Where are students getting more indoctrination to Marxist philosophy... the Community Colleges, or the State Universities? Or the "private" Ivy League schools? Which schools are more filled with left wing student organizations?

Who are the real communisty colleges, Subby?

fenianfark:
U of Phoenix is a joke. Anyone that is hiring will not so much as look at a U of Phoenix graduate. Try getting an engineering degree there and then telling other engineers that you are also an engineer. You will be laughed at.

I agree with a lot of your post, but that school scams the poor and ignorant into taking out student loans for worthless degrees.

I don't think U of P ever expected to compete with a traditional college in terms of "prestige." Overall, I was just trying to convey my belief that CC and for-profits perform a necessary function in training a certain segment of the population in a cost-effective manner. I don't think they will ever compete with traditional 4-year degrees, and anyone that expects them too could be expecting too much.