Community Colleges by State

By Dave Tomar

Published: Sep 29, 2022
Updated: Jul 28, 2023

Key Takeaways

Community college offers career-focused degree programs that are often more affordable than programs from larger colleges and universities

Community colleges also offer generous credit-transfer policies, making them great for students who want to transfer out of or into another college, and for students who want to earn credit for previous professional experience

You can use our collection of rankings of community colleges in each state to find the best options in your area

Table of Contents

The Benefits of Community College

An unfortunate (and often inaccurate) stigma surrounds community college, and often deters students from considering it.

Comparing community colleges to large public universities with titanic endowments is not helpful. The fact is, community college represents an excellent option for many students.

A community college offers unique advantages that a large university may not. For instance, community colleges offer highly affordable tuition on average. And their smaller classrooms and convenient locations directly appeal to adult learners, working students, and those with responsibilities that might compete with their education.

And even if you plan to transfer out of a community college eventually, earning prerequisite course credits there before pursuing enrollment in a more expensive degree program can save a ton of money–perhaps even enough to curtail the need for student loans.

The Bottom Line: Community colleges provide students with an affordable opportunity to advance their education at convenient locations with a career-focused curriculum designed to prepare you for the job market.