The best community colleges provide an effective springboard into higher education, offering students high-quality two-year degree programs in a wide range of disciplines. The top rated community colleges offer a broad selection of associate’s degrees, affordable tuition rates, and strong partnerships with public four-year schools so that students can easily transfer their credits into accredited bachelor’s degree programs.
A community college is a public two-year college that awards associate degrees as well as some professional certifications. Community colleges typically attract students drawn from the surrounding region. Top community colleges tend to offer a wide selection of associate degrees spanning a variety of disciplines. Community colleges can be especially attractive to students interested in getting an affordable start on a four-year degree. So too, these schools appeal to students seeking professional two-year degrees designed to provide technical and practical skills for immediate entrance into the job market.
We’ve identified 839 community colleges in the US. In order to be included in this list of the best community colleges, a school needs must be fully accredited, and must primarily provide two-year, or associate, degree programs (along with certificate credentials in most cases).
Tuition + fees
$1K
Graduation
44%
Student body
19K
Pasadena City College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$1K
Graduation
24%
Student body
8K
Los Angeles City College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$1K
Graduation
37%
Student body
12K
City College of San Francisco’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$2K
Graduation
69%
Student body
14K
De Anza College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$1K
Graduation
25%
Student body
12K
Sacramento City College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
18%
Student body
48K
Lone Star College System’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Graduation
28%
Student body
7K
Anne Arundel Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$1K
Graduation
45%
Student body
9K
Santa Barbara City College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$3K
Graduation
16%
Student body
22K
Collin College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Graduation
22%
Student body
14K
College of DuPage’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
12%
Student body
11K
Macomb Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$1K
Graduation
34%
Student body
14K
Fullerton College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
22%
Student body
5K
Bronx Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
11%
Student body
13K
Blinn College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$1K
Graduation
36%
Student body
7K
Chabot College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$4K
Graduation
40%
Student body
3K
East Mississippi Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
33%
Student body
32K
Northern Virginia Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Graduation
29%
Student body
13K
Montgomery College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$12K
Graduation
21%
Student body
5K
Malcolm X College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$4K
Graduation
24%
Student body
11K
Cuyahoga Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$13K
Graduation
24%
Student body
3K
ASA College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$1K
Graduation
29%
Student body
16K
American River College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$2K
Graduation
14%
Student body
8K
Glendale Community College ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
41%
Graduation
39%
Student body
<1K
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
18%
Student body
15K
Portland Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$2K
Graduation
15%
Student body
9K
Mesa Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$1K
Graduation
29%
Student body
13K
Palomar College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$3K
Graduation
32%
Student body
13K
San Jacinto College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$1K
Graduation
44%
Student body
12K
Orange Coast College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Graduation
26%
Student body
10K
San Antonio College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$1K
Graduation
20%
Student body
4K
Merritt College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
29%
Student body
10K
LaGuardia Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
32%
Student body
8K
Kingsborough Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$1K
Graduation
37%
Student body
10K
Los Angeles Pierce College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$1K
Graduation
46%
Student body
13K
Saddleback College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$2K
Graduation
22%
Student body
16K
Long Beach City College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
23%
Student body
3K
Central Oregon Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$4K
Graduation
30%
Student body
16K
Salt Lake Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
19%
Student body
4K
Weatherford College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$1K
Graduation
35%
Student body
6K
Cabrillo College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$19K
Acceptance
95%
Graduation
38%
Student body
<1K
Manor College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$1K
Graduation
36%
Student body
10K
Santa Rosa Junior College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Graduation
17%
Student body
9K
Community College of Allegheny County’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Graduation
14%
Student body
3K
Angelina College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$2K
Graduation
13%
Student body
5K
Phoenix College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$1K
Graduation
30%
Student body
17K
East Los Angeles College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Graduation
19%
Student body
1K
Cecil College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$13K
Graduation
19%
Student body
8K
Joliet Junior College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$4K
Graduation
44%
Student body
5K
Lee College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
You know by now that community colleges are a great choice for students who are interested in an affordable skill-based, career-focused program.
If you want a degree from a community college that is close to home, check out our list of the best colleges and universities in each state.
College students can benefit from learning to code even if it is not part of their curriculum. For an in-depth look at the many benefits of learning to code, check out our article explaining Why Every College Student Should Learn Coding.
Photo Credit: Pasadena City College, By Michael Wu, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
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