Over the last several years, the college admissions landscape has become increasingly competitive. According to the UC Berkeley common data set, the acceptance rate has fallen from 14.5% in 2021 to 11% in 2024. A major factor contributing to this drop is an increase in qualified candidates. The number of applicants rose from 109,597 in 2021 to 124,245 in 2024, while the number of admits stayed the same. Additionally, the cost of attending a four-year university has increased. The average tuition for attending a UC has risen by 122% since 2006, with the current average tuition at $15,170, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
As an alternative to traditional four-year universities, community colleges are a way to obtain associate’s degrees or to cover general education (gen-ed) requirements before transferring to a four-year college. Community colleges are more affordable, have high acceptance rates and transfer rates from community colleges to universities are much higher than first-year acceptance rates. For example, UCSB has a first-year acceptance rate of 32.9% and a 61.8% acceptance rate for transfer students, according to their common data set. Furthermore, California has the lowest cost community college system in the U.S., with an average annual cost of $1,350.
Community college classes are also available to high school students through dual enrollment, where students can take community college classes on top of their regular classes, and through Middle College, where students earn high school and college credit simultaneously. FHS senior Victoria Ledezma describes how an alternative learning environment in Middle College has been beneficial to her.
“I was dealing with a lot of social issues, and I just kind of felt trapped here,” Ledezma said. “I didn’t [know] where to go with my education.”
While a typical high school might offer a few classes in each subject, community colleges have much more expansive course catalogs. For example, FHS offers just seven history classes while Foothill College offers over a dozen, with topics ranging from Russian history, to Middle Eastern history, to Californian history. Additionally, community college classes are typically taught by professors who are experts in their field, and unlike university professors, they have no obligation to do research, so their primary focus is teaching.
“Being able to go to Middle College and explore all these classes and just [to] have free roam to all these classes really helped me build up my education [and] helped me grow with my career,” Ledezma said. “Also, the people that I met along the way helped me make a lot of new connections, which helped me in the long run.”
In a world where everyone is obsessed with prestige, community colleges are often looked down upon. However, community colleges deliver significant value through their affordability and accessibility while offering quality education and a unique learning environment.
