LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Three colleges in Southern California, two in Orange County, have been ranked by the personal-finance website WalletHub in the top 20 best community colleges in the country in a report released Tuesday.
Irvine Valley College in Irvine was ranked sixth and Saddleback College in Mission Viejo was ranked 14th in the report by WalletHub that compared 650 community colleges in the country using factors such as cost and quality. The data used ranged from cost of in-state tuition and fees to the student-faculty ratio and graduation rate.
Moreno Valley College in Riverside County was ranked 12th.
Manhattan Area Technical College in Kansas was ranked No. 1. State Technical College of Missouri was second and Pratt Community College in Kansas was third.
California was ranked 17th in the country with the best community colleges. Maryland was ranked first in the country with the best community colleges.
“The magic of community colleges is that they can be a gateway to so many opportunities. For some students, they provide local access to certificates and training in trades and technical careers. For others, they provide lower-cost entry points to four-year degrees and beyond,” said Jennifer L. Steele, professor at American University. “To promote equity, community colleges should ensure that all students are aware of these pathways, including the kinds of careers, work lives, and compensation they are likely to yield. And what if four-year colleges were to benefit from the unique offerings of community colleges? One idea would be for four-year colleges to award general education credit (credit in general studies) for practical community college courses like carpentry, auto repair, or first responder certification. Such courses would likely rise in popularity if they were counted toward general course requirements at four-year colleges, opening pathways to new interests and skills among college students.”
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