Earning bachelor’s degree in community college

 

Photo of Jannine Amore Up-to-Date Editor
Jannine Amore
Mesa Legend

With graduation being just around the corner, I have been thinking a lot about what my next move will be.  As of right now, leaving MCC and moving on to a bigger, more expensive university like ASU seems to be the only option.  I can’t help but think how truly amazing it would be if I could just stay here at MCC and earn my bachelor’s degree. There are many reasons why I feel this way, and I am sure countless students in my position feel the same way.

For one, the cost! Let’s say Mesa Community College decided to take the next step and offered further education beyond associate degrees, but kept the tuition where it is right now.  For me and many others, that would take so much financial pressure away from earning an education.  I’m sure if you ask any student here, not one of them would say that they really want to go spend the money that’s required for universities like Arizona State and the University of Arizona.

Another reason I would love to stay right here at MCC to further my education is the level of comfort I have reached here.  I have had nothing but great experiences with professors, classes, other students, course materials, and everything else that this college offers.  I don’t know about other students, but for me, MCC is a place that is going to be difficult to leave.

Commuting to MCC is also extremely easy. Being located in Mesa, I feel like it is an easy drive for nearly every student here.  If I were to move on to Arizona State as soon as August, I would have to start making some pretty difficult decisions about possibly moving, or preparing myself for a pretty frustrating commute to downtown Phoenix every day.  This problem is compounded for students who want to go to other universities.  ASU isn’t horribly far away, but for students who want to go to another university, like U of A, distance quickly becomes a much larger problem.

With the amount of students enrolled here at MCC, I think offering bachelor degree programs would be very doable and is worth considering.  The school would be able to attract more students, as well as give employment to more professors.  It would have an amazing impact on not just myself, but the thousands of other students wanting to further their education at the affordable cost and convenience of community college.

  • Mesa Legend Staff

    These are archived stories from Mesa Legend editions before Fall 2018. See article for corresponding author.

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