She wrote about trying to help a student who needs one specific course in order to graduate and the course isn’t offered this year because of the budget cuts.

In the late ’60s, the community/junior college system in Alabama was designed by then Governor George C. Wallace to fill the pockets of his cronies. Salaries were a lot higher than at state colleges and universities. I don’t know what kind of connection faculty members had to have to be hired or if their qualifications even played a part in it. These institutions were regulated separately from state colleges and universities as well. It has changed and I don’t know about the quality of education received now.
Being hired for well-paying positions, I think, depends on where you’re applying. If an applicant who attended a community college for two years and graduated from a state school with a decent GPA and good recommendations, she might be hired quickly in state but not so in another part of the country.

Academic credits transfer directly, if one can get admitted to the uni. Used to be automatic, but CSU Long Beach, particularly, has so many applications they’re down to admitting only 15% of applicants. (which is too bad, they’re about 2 miles away)

And there is no stigma as to whether someone attended a university for four years or just two. The degree is the same. As far as I know, no remedial classes are required or offered. Students are expected to transfer with no problem. My son’s coursework and papers certainly struck me as university level.

However, this is not the only path through the CC. Each of them also has some vocational speciality programs that can be very high quality. LBCC, where my son attends, has a 4 year Electrical Engineering program that is apparently tops in the nation. Don’t ask me how. He is currently enrolled in a two year (post academics, he’s already done those) program for FAA certification as an airplane engine and airframe mechanic. This program is rated second in the US to the Air Force Academy’s program. He’s in class 7:30-2:30 five days a week, hands-on, for 2 years.

In some places, CC’s are dumping grounds for failed teachers who couldn’t get tenure or positions at an actual university. Not so here. Daniel has had some darn fine teachers.

That said, without some certification like Daniel is working for, a degree from a university is undoubtedly more prestigious and more likely to lead to employment than an AA from a CC. Except for that Electrical Engineering thing. Those graduates are apparently snatched up coming out of the graduation ceremony.

Palin is, perhaps, an example of the student government type, or a cheerleader, if Robert’s right. But ignore her? Today, yes, I can and do. But not if she had become vice-President with an elderly and not particularly healthy McCain in the Oval Office. The idea still makes me shudder.

As for the importance of where you go to school – I’ve begun to agree with Jane, based on my recent experiences hiring people. My examples are all Midwestern schools, though, not East Coast. The last three people I’ve hired graduated from the University of Minnesota – and both of them are the kind of guys who would have been active in their own education, and worked hard to GET an education rather than just a diploma; and the third is a graduate of Marquette who had a 3.97 GPA. She’s three years out of college but her ability to think and evaluate and write all mean that she’s outperforming my other two people with twenty years of experience.

All of which means that I will probably pay more attention to education in future than I have been in the past (and if we make it past budget review I’ll be hiring two more people next fiscal year! Imagine, I’ll be able to do just one job.)

In my part of Canada, I don’t think the community colleges ever went the college-prep route in a big way. I vaguely remember that at some point during their development from Trade Schools to Community Colleges, there was some talk of students being able to transfer credits back and forth, and a quick online search reveals detailed information about how such transfers work now, but it doesn’t seem to be a big way of getting a step up to university. Then again, we don’t have extremely selective universities. Programs, yes; some programs are very difficult to get into. And students transfer the other way, from university to colleges, to take shorter programs with more potential for quick employment.

I’m sure employers consider which university their applicants went to when hiring. Universities certainly know the relative skill levels of students from various secondary schools; at least, from the ones most of their applicants come from. And there’s public information available to the student – and annual report detailing the employment status of students after completion of the programs. Oddly enough, too few people seem to want to use this information to decide on whether or not a particular program offers the kind of success the institution promises. People follow odd processes when making decisions.