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Not all colleges are created equal, EGCC officials say
By Denise Dick
By DENISE DICK
YOUNGSTOWN
Just because television and print advertisements call an institution a college doesn’t mean it’s going to prepare students to continue their education.
Price, accreditation and transferable credits distinguish community colleges from other institutions that call themselves colleges.
Community colleges are two-year, public colleges that provide associate’s degrees, prepare students who will transfer to a four-year school and provide job training or retraining.
Ron Abrams, president of the Ohio Association of Community Colleges, said community colleges in Ohio are public institutions, established by the state and chartered as community colleges.
They’re also accredited by a federally approved regional accrediting body, he said.
“Accreditation for community colleges is through one of the regional accreditation associations,” said Laura Meeks, president of Eastern Gateway Community College. “For us it’s the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association.”
Abrams said accreditation assures that basic standards are met including faculty qualifications, available resources and library holdings.
“It also assures transferability — that credits will transfer to other institutions,” he said.
Accredited institutions also are eligible for federal financial aid programs.
Private, for profit institutions are accredited differently. If a prospective students wants to learn about whether a particular institution is accredited and through what body, that information should be posted in the college catalog and its website, Abrams said.
Accreditation of an institution is different from that of a particular program.
If you want to know what credits will transfer, look for regional accreditation, Meeks said.
Before enrolling in a “college,” Meeks recommends prospective students check with the university to which they hope to transfer to ensure they’ll accept the credits.
Another element is price.
“About $3,500 is the average cost per year for a community college in Ohio,” Meeks said. If the cost of whatever institution a prospective student is checking out exceeds that, “you should consider community college. When it’s all said and done, what is the cost? What’s your out of pocket expense?”
Don’t forget to include loans in that calculation, she said.
EGCC is one of 23 community colleges in Ohio. In July 2009, Jefferson Community was expanded by the state Legislature and became EGCC. Its Mahoning Valley headquarters are at Forum Health’s Northside Medical Center on Gypsy Lane. It’s looking for a location in Warren.
“Most community colleges that started before 1968 were designed as junior colleges and they were for one purpose: to transfer courses to universities,” Meeks said.
But they’ve evolved to include two other missions: to serve the needs of business and industry and to retrain workers in business and industry, the EGCC president said.
Many also include what Meeks calls a community development piece — such as summer camp for children, or senior citizen enhancement.
People generally choose to attend community college for two reasons: affordability and proximity to home, she said.
“Our cost is $99 per credit hour,” Meeks said. “A student could be full time for a year and with fees and tuition it would cost [about] $3,100.”
EGCC strives to keep student debt down while trying to help them secure the highest paying job possible upon graduation.
In 2007, an average student debt totaled $22,500.