If you live in a rural area of Washington State, you may not have a 4-year college or university close by. Does that mean you can’t get a 4-year bachelor’s degree? As it turns out, no! You have options, you motivated education seeker you! How does this work? Let’s take a look!
Here are Five Fast Facts on Washington State’s community college model:
- 🏫 It’s About The Community - It is possible to get a 4-year degree – including teaching or nursing – at a local community college. This typically benefits students who are “place-bound,” meaning they can only attend college close to home due to work or family obligations. Currently, 24 states offer this in one form or another.
- ☑️ Checking The Boxes - Almost any degree is eligible, as long as the community college can show there’s a local area need for the job and that students will enter their program. If both the supply and demand are there, it’s two thumbs up!
- 🍎🩺 It’s Applicable - These degrees are called applied bachelor’s degrees because they are designed to provide students with great hands-on experience that is applicable to their chosen profession. Well, we’d hate for it to be experience that didn’t apply, wouldn’t we?
- 👍 Catching On - Washington State has been doing this since 2005, and has 33 colleges offering 165 bachelor’s degrees. In that time, the state has awarded almost 2,000 degrees in education and nursing alone!
- 💰 Big Difference - This is huge for two reasons. First, community college is generally about half the cost of 4-year college, especially if the student lives on campus. Even better, folks with bachelor’s degrees will typically earn a salary of over $74k, a whopping 43% more than an associate’s degree and a 100% increase over those with just a high school diploma! They also open up a lot more kinds of jobs as options, and have a lower unemployment rate. Spend less and make more? It’s like an economics degree is built in!
🔥Bottom line: We LOVE this! Not only does it allow people who need and want those degrees to get them at a much lower cost, but it then opens new doors and gives them a chance to make more money for themselves and their families! Hard to see anything but a win here.
Do you know anyone who got one of these bachelor’s degrees at a community college?
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