An associate degree from a Community College is a great alternative to attending a four year university. Community Colleges offer an incredible assortment of programs and assistance to get you moving along the path to higher education and a better paying career. They are a valuable option not to be overlooked by those seeking to attend college.

Perhaps you can’t afford a major university, maybe you want to stay near your home due to family matters, or you might not have the time to be a full-time student—in any case, a Community College has a solution ready and waiting for you. Since Community Colleges are state sponsored, they are usually very inexpensive for state residents to attend. If you need it, they have financial aid available in the form of state and federal grants and loans.

An associate degree takes about two years to earn as a full-time student. Since the first year of any college curriculum is a review of the last two years of high school, there are exams that will award college credit for knowledge you already have. The Advanced Placement Tests and the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) tests offer numerous opportunities for you to receive credit for previously taken classes.

In most cases, the first two years of your undergraduate curriculum are spent on your core classes like Language Arts, History, Earth Science, Math, Humanities, and Foreign Languages. It’s not until you reach your junior year that you begin taking advanced classes in your major field of study. As long as you receive a strong core curriculum base, you’ll be prepared for the rest of your studies. However, if you take two years of courses at a university, all you’ll have to show for it is a transcript and the Freshman Fifteen (the fifteen pounds freshmen gain when they leave home for college and dormitory life). You can earn an associate degree in those same two years, which pumps up your resume. Plus you can do it from home, so—no Freshman Fifteen!

Community Colleges offer an associate degree in all sorts of subjects like Arts, Applied Sciences, Mathematics, Foreign Language, General Studies, and Music. That’s not all a Community College offers. In addition to an associate degree, you can earn occupational certificates in numerous fields like law enforcement, paralegal, computer programming, drafting, medical office technology, and many, many others. These certificates properly prepare you to take your place in the work force of your choosing.

Another great benefit of Community College is that you can earn your associate degree part-time, at nights, or even on the weekend. There are programs in place for almost any schedule. You can take accelerated courses to speed up the process or just take a few credits per semester. If your work schedule changes, you can adjust your courses accordingly.

A Community College is flexible and affordable. An associate degree is a nice payoff for two years of studying. The credits from a state-run Community College will transfer just as any other credits. Your resume will look better with an associate degree, too. Community Colleges are meant to bridge the gap between students and their ultimate career goals.