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Community colleges are two year institutions for higher education which basically find their prominence in U.S. They were commonly known as junior colleges but later on the use was discouraged as junior colleges were privately funded institutions whereas community colleges were commonly publicly funded institutions. The community colleges were meant to develop a workforce for the nation. The community colleges have found their fame only in parts of U.S. than in any other part of the world.

The main events that contributed to the evolvement of the community colleges were the economic scenario in the early 90’s. Many a college existed where the no. of students was too less for a four year integrated course. So, the ministry decided to convert those colleges to two year community colleges. Earlier these colleges provided semi professional education to the local class of U.S. This was seen as the major advantage of community colleges as they could prepare the local community as a major workforce for the nation. It found its major prominence during the post world war 2 times as it proved to be a major centre for continuing their higher education

Pros

As every coin has its two sides so have community colleges. Many people stand in support of community colleges whereas many advocate that it creates a divide in the society. If we put the limelight on the advantages of community colleges the main advantages that pop up are:

• They were originally meant to prepare the local people and to satisfy their local needs.
• It proved a boon for the students who could not attend the colleges due to some financial trouble or realized the importance of education very late in their life.
• Moreover, the students from community colleges were given a preference during the admissions to the 4 year degree courses.
• Also the strength of students in the community colleges was really less as compared to four year colleges where the strength was more than 300.
• It provides the students with a degree which helped them to earn a job of their own than the students who did their two years of equivalent higher education.

Cons

Many a disadvantages also come strongly in the scene along with its advantages:

• Its critics advocate that it creates a difference in the society between the local and the affluent class.
• Also the arguments build up that the community colleges give a chance to the elite class to studyat public expense and snatch away the chance from the local class.
• Community colleges provide with lesser facilities whether it be hostel or libraries
• People with Associates degree tend to earn less than those with a Bachelor’s degree.

Inspite of all these drawbacks community colleges tend to maintain their superiority in the educational environment in the U.S. specifically. Other nations have also tried to imbibe this community colleges trend but nowhere else has it found such success. These colleges play an important part in preparing a major workforce mainly the teaching class. These proved their worth during the period when urbanization and industrialization was to its peek.

U.S. Community Colleges by state can be found in the following URL,

http://www.utexas.edu/world/comcol/state/