Changed my mind about community college being a waste of time

I used to think community college was just for people who couldn't get into a real university. Then my buddy Mike from high school finished at Santa Monica College with zero debt and got a solid IT job 6 months later making $48k a year. Seeing him buy a house in Anaheim last month while I'm still paying off my one year at a state school really made me reconsider my whole take on this. Anybody else have a friend who went that route and did better than the traditional 4 year crowd?

2 comments

2 Comments

leo_mason3d ago

Mike from my high school went to a community college in Oakland and now manages a whole department at a tech company. Dude makes more than most of my friends who went to UC schools and has way less debt. I think people sleep on how smart it is to just knock out gen eds for cheap then transfer. Plus those vocational programs they have are legit if you know what you want to do early. Not everyone needs to spend 40k a year to end up in the same job market anyway.

simon_lopez353d ago

That's one guy though. Mike might have just gotten lucky landing that IT job - community colleges don't have the same recruiting pipelines or alumni networks that four year schools do. A degree from a well known university opens doors that a community college cert just can't, especially when you're trying to move up later in your career or switch fields.