College Education Concerns in the 21st Century
(c) M. Ryder

Can't come up with the money for four years at a traditional college? What if you could take the same courses far more cheaply, experience life on a residential campus, and transfer smoothly after two years to complete your bachelor's degree at the university you thought you couldn't afford? That's the attraction of many community colleges.

While in high school in Lonaconing, Md., Chris Rumer had his sights on studying atmospheric science at Penn State. "Penn State is only 100 miles from home, and it's one of the top five schools in the field," says Rumer, now 24. "Why wouldn't I want to go?" But for financial reasons, Rumer started in 2002 at Allegany College of Maryland in Cumberland. He then headed to Penn State debt free.

Since 2000, Rumer and millions of other students have driven enrollment in public community colleges up 30 percent. Two-year schools governed by four-year institutions grew even faster.

Smooth transition. Community colleges teach many of the same subjects as universities. More and more of them have streamlined transfers by reaching agreements with universities on which courses will count toward a bachelor's degree. And hundreds of community colleges now have on-campus housing.

Potomac State College in Keyser, W.Va., represents the past and future of two-year schools. The college was founded in 1901 as a preparatory branch of West Virginia University. Its first residence hall was built in 1913. Potomac became a full-fledged division of the university in 2005, offering two-year transfer programs and two bachelor's degrees. Two years ago, the college opened the $19 million University Place dorm, which has a fitness center, theater, cafeteria, and after-hours takeout counter.

From farm to agribusiness. For Ashley Kisamore, 19, finishing college quickly is her way of helping with the family finances. Her disabled father can no longer manage his livestock farm in Seneca Rocks, W.Va., without the help of his two daughters. Both women decided to start at Potomac State because it was cheaper than WVU (in-state students pay less than $4,000 a semester for tuition and room and board, compared with about $15,000 at WVU). Kisamore says she has twice taken an 18-hour course load; with some credits earned in high school, she can expect to transfer and finish her agribusiness degree at WVU in just one year. She credits her living arrangement at Friend Hall for a share of her academic success. "It's almost all ag and forestry students," Kisamore says. "We take the same classes. Living together helps us form study groups."

Jordan Matijevich of Burgettstown, Pa., always wanted to study engineering. "Horrible SATs" prompted WVU's admissions office to refer Matijevich to Potomac State. A visit convinced him and his mom. "She liked the place, and she liked the idea I would be getting into WVU after two years," Matijevich says.

Potomac's out-of-state students pay around $8,000 per semester for tuition, room, and board, compared with about $26,000 out of state at WVU. Matijevich's dorm assignment was an unexpected plus: a suite of two rooms shared with just one other student. He says he found his first-year classes relatively easy. "This year, though, I'm booked with work and being president of the engineering club," he says. The club's members are building a giant catapult.

Matijevich and Kisamore stand a good chance of wearing a cap and gown at a future WVU commencement. A study of students who started two-year programs in 1995-96 found that 44 percent of those who declared a bachelor's degree to be their goal had completed the work in four years, reports the National Center for Education Statistics.

Virginia Tech seeks out community college transfers to round out new freshman classes. "Community colleges bring diversity," says Mildred Johnson, director of undergraduate admissions at the Blacksburg, Va., school. Virginia Tech helps transfer students flourish: Orientation lasts a day, and those needing extra help get it.

Nurturing community college transfer students may be especially important as states cut university funding or impose tuition increases, says Stephen G. Katsinas, director of the University of Alabama's Education Policy Center. "For millions of students, community colleges are, in fact, the portal to higher education," Katsinas says.

Sunny side up. The Rumer family of Maryland testifies to this. In 2002, mother Annette Rumer received a bachelor's from Frostburg State University two years after collecting an associate's degree from Allegany College of Maryland. The same year, daughter Sandi graduated from Allegany with an associate's degree, and son Chris graduated from high school. Chris started at Allegany, was accepted into Penn State with a 3.7 grade-point average, and then moved there in 2005. He volunteered for the campus weather service, joined a severe-weather watch team, and interned at the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, N.Y. "I was seeing my passion and my dream unfold before me," Rumer said.

Rumer received his bachelor's degree, with a 3.3 GPA, two years later. Now he works for an environmental consultant in Pittsburgh. Although his Penn State sheepskin left him $67,000 in debt, Rumer thinks his path helped him save money. "My friend on Long Island was in the same program as I was. He borrowed for 3½ years, and he's got $120,000 in debt."

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(c) 2009 U.S. News & World Report