 Good morning and good evening to our viewers joining us from around the world. My name is Alfred Boll and I represent EducationUSA and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. Today's Facebook Live is about community colleges and why international students should consider community colleges as an attractive option when looking to study in the United States. Our goal at EducationUSA is to help international students identify the American college or university where they are best placed for success and community colleges are an excellent option for many students. There are over 550 EducationUSA advisors in 181 countries and territories around the world offering free advising services to help you identify a school and to help you navigate the admissions process. There are over 4,700 accredited U.S. colleges and universities and EducationUSA promotes all of them. I'm excited to introduce our guest speakers who have a wealth of knowledge on community colleges and who can tell us about what is known as the 2 plus 2 model. Joining us virtually is Dawn Wood. Dawn is the Dean of International Programs at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She has over 20 years of experience in international education. Welcome Dawn. Thank you. Joining me here, welcome. Thank you. Joining me here in our studio is Wayne Wheeler. Wayne represents the U.S. Community College sector through his work at the American Association of Community Colleges. As the director of AACC's International Office, he develops initiatives that help advocate for community colleges. Welcome Wayne. Thank you. Also joining me here is Edward Tachim. Edward is an international student from Cameroon. He just graduated from Prince George's Community College in Maryland with an associates degree in computer science. In the fall, he will attend the University of Maryland College Park to pursue a bachelor's degree in computer science. Welcome Edward. Thank you. During the program we will be answering questions live from all of you on Facebook. So if you have questions you would like to ask any of our speakers, please post them at any time during this program in the comments section below. Wayne, I wonder if you could start our discussion by giving us an overview of community colleges. There are over 1,000 community colleges in the United States. How are they different from traditional universities? Well community colleges were established over 100 years ago to bring higher education into the local community to educate as many citizens as possible. Today about half of all undergraduates in the U.S. are enrolled at community colleges. That's incredible. They provide great opportunities not only for international students but also domestic students about actually the largest percentage of international students who come to the U.S. in pursuit of an undergraduate education are enrolled at community colleges. Last year it was a little more than 94,000 international students. That's incredible. So why would a student choose a community college? Well there are many community colleges spread across the United States. But they have a common mission and one important part of that is that they provide the first two years of a university education and they provide that at a very affordable cost. Much lower than they would have to pay at a four-year college or university. A high quality education for a lower cost. Got it. So that's a major factor. And then there's also what is known as the 2 plus 2 model. How does that, so why would a student choose a community college thinking about going on after that? Yes. Well as I stated they provide the first two years of a university education. And then after that the student can take their course credits and transfer them to a four-year college or university. And to make that process seamless community colleges, every community college in the nation has articulation agreements with four-year colleges and universities to make that a smooth process so that when a student gets to the four-year college or university they start as a junior. They do two additional years, the junior and senior year to get a bachelor's degree from that institution the same degree as if they had started at that institution as a freshman. But they've done two years at a community college which was a different institution, a different experience and more economical. More affordable. Got it. Okay. Is there also, can students at a community college do things like optional practical training which is something that many students look for? Yes, that's a great benefit for international students because after getting their associate degree they can get an additional one year of optional practical training. They wouldn't be able to get that if they went to a four-year college or university. They would have to, they would get it after their bachelor's degree but if they started a community college they can get it after their associate's degree then also after their bachelor's degree. Okay. One quick question. Is every student guaranteed entrance into a four-year college or are there some conditions on that? There are some conditions. There are articulation agreements as I mentioned. Our articulation agreements, a lot of community colleges also have guaranteed admission agreements. And so there are terms to these agreements that students must meet. They should check with their college counselors to make sure that they are meeting the terms for the institution that they wish to transfer to. A lot of community colleges as well as four-year institutions now have on their websites lists of their transfer partners. So an international student if they know which four-year college or university they wish to transfer to they can look at that institution's website and look to see which community colleges are transfer partners. Likewise they can look on the community college website to see which four-year institutions are transfer partners. But it's important that they meet the terms of those agreements because without meeting those terms some course credits can transfer but they stand the risk that some of their course credits may not transfer. I see. So it's the transferring and I assume they're also like GPA grade point grades that they have to get under most agreements to be able to transfer? Yes. Absolutely. Okay. So a reason to work hard at college no matter what? Absolutely. Okay. Excellent. Quality is still a big part of the American higher education in all sectors. Yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you very much. So I know one additional question our viewers must be thinking about is for international students who are considering applying to a community college are there any scholarship opportunities at community colleges? Well most community colleges don't provide scholarships to incoming students. One exception to that are athletic scholarships. Some community colleges participate in competitive sports and they may offer athletic scholarships to incoming students. And to find out more about those the students should check with the college because there are some restrictions and requirements that the college has to meet in providing those scholarships. After the first year at a community college many community colleges provide merit based scholarships based on how well the student does during the first year. And then upon graduation there are many transfer scholarships that are provided by four year colleges and universities to well performing community college students. Okay. Very interesting. So students should check a community colleges website to get information about articulation agreements about possible scholarships and then about merit based scholarships after the first year. So again another reason to work hard and do well. Yes. And for the transfer scholarships they really should look at the website of Phi Theta Kappa which is the community college honor society. And actually they are an affiliated council of the American Association of Community Colleges so students can go to our association website and click on the link for Phi Theta Kappa to look at the transfer scholarships that are available. Excellent. So transfer scholarships another thing you can't count on but they're available they're competitive and for well performing students. For well performing students excellent. So academic excellence is rewarded in all parts of the U.S. higher education system. Absolutely. One way or another. That's good. Thank you very much. So what I'm sure one thing people are thinking about is housing. What should students expect in terms of housing at a community college? Well many community colleges don't have on campus housing however they are expert in providing home stays to international students which gives an opportunity for the student to experience the local culture, participate in events that are happening in the local community as well as on campus. It also provides them with opportunities to hone their English language skills if that's something that they wish to do. Community colleges also provide housing, local housing referrals to international students. And some of those arrangements are for dormitory style housing. Some colleges have those arrangements with housing providers that have facilities right across the street from their campus so it's not very far from campus. So while it's not necessarily what students are thinking about housing in terms of four-year institutions, dormitories, there are lots of options and community colleges think about this as part of their organization and they take care of students in helping them find housing that's appropriate for them. Yes. Yes. And in my looking at the data it appeared that housing wasn't a determining factor for international students also because many of our community colleges that have large numbers of international students each year don't have housing. But like I stated, they have housing options, other housing options that are attractive to international students. Thank you very much. Thank you for sharing such valuable, interesting information, Wayne. I'd like to turn to you, Don. I think it's the perfect time to talk about some of the eligibility requirements for community colleges. Would you be able to tell us a bit about how it works? Absolutely. Yeah, for international students who want to come to community colleges, typically the admission process is much simpler and easier. So sometimes students choose to come to community college because there's not a lot of entrance exams. There's flexible language requirements. Many of the community colleges in the U.S. have an English language offering. So you can take some ESL classes to prepare you to enter the regular academic classes. So for example, if you need a high TOEFL to enter the universe of your choice, you might choose to come to a community college first to improve your English language proficiency to get up to the level that's required for that university that you'd like to go to. OK, that's that's fantastic. So entrance exams English is all different. That's that's a lot of stuff for students to consider in terms of an attractive way to enter into the higher education system. Let me turn to you, Edward, to get your perspective, because you are an international student. You've been at a community college. Can you tell us about your journey and why you decided to go to a community college? Sure. So I'm a young, born Cameroonian, and I came to the United States in the fall of 2016. And when I came here, I was searching for affordability and also ease of access. So I chose a community college because it is very affordable. And in terms of accessing it, it's also very close to where I leave that. OK, fantastic. So it was a practical natural decision. Yes. I hear Prince George's Community College chose you to be the commencement speaker at graduation. Correct. That's an amazing honor. Now that you've actually graduated from from your community college, can you share your perspective on the benefits of attending a community college where you were at Prince George's? Absolutely. I think for an international student attending a community college, it's a great thing because of the class sizes. First, because the class sizes are very narrowed down as compared to a traditional large classroom size. So you would say the ratio between students and faculty is, I could say 20 to one. So you have that relationship with your faculty. So class sizes are one thing. But also you have that opportunity to experience a culture because you have many students from across the globe who meet at a community college and have different cultures that you get to learn being at a community college. So I would say being at a community college for two years was a great experience that I would not exchange for anything. So you clearly bonded with classmates. Yes, I did. I'd like to hear a little bit about that in terms of, you know, those good relationships, friendship. Do you think you're going to keep friends that you made at Prince George's for life? Absolutely. And the reason I say that is because being in the center of focus of student life as a student government president, I got to meet a lot of students from around the globe. So I made a lot of friendships and those would last a lifetime. OK, you also mentioned your professors. Tell us a little bit about that. I mean, did they? I know that one of the benefits of a community college is small class sizes. Right. But did you get what's the attention like from your professors? So you need to first look at it this way. You have very experienced professors who teach you. Now, if you have that opportunity to be in a small classroom size with an individual that has this amount of knowledge, it's just incredible. So being in the class with a professor and having to talk to him about the issues you have with a certain class or a particular chapter in the class was really interesting. So I am a computer science student, for example. And let's say I'm working on this computer program and there is this call that I can't find a bug in. So I would just either email the professor or just walk straight to his office during his office hours. Again, he does not have a lot of students to attend to. So I bonded a lot with most of my professors. And up to this date, I talked to most of them. OK, that's fantastic. I'm interested in also hearing your perspective on the agreement on the 2 plus 2 model, because you are an example. You've just finished at Prince George's and you're about to move to the University of Maryland. Right. How did that work? Was that an easy process? Yes, it was an easy process because at a community college, you have a chance to take up to 60 credits general education classes for the most part. And there are articulation agreements with most four year institutions. So as soon as you get your associate's degree at the community college, it's easy to transfer to a four year university and continue thereof as a junior and complete the rest of the two years over there. Did you know that you wanted to go to University of Maryland? Were there other options? Could were there where were there articulation agreements? Or, you know, did you have different options to think about? I did have different options to think about. But in terms of priority, University of Maryland came top on my list. But I also did apply to University of Maryland, Baltimore County. I also applied to Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, Washington University, Johns Hopkins. So, yes, there are different options. And most of these four year institutions do have articulation agreements. That's fantastic. So students also have to do their homework. You know, at Education USA, where our advisors are helping students find the right fit. And so it sounds like when you leave a community college and you want to transfer, you still need to think hard about what's the right fit for me? Where should I go into a four year institution? Absolutely. Because, again, remember, this is your future we're talking about. So if you're really interested about what you become at the end of the day, you have to do your own homework. So a community college is a good place to start. But then in order to move on to a four year institution, you have to do your research in terms of scholarships, you know, affordability, location. And yeah, definitely, a student has a part to play. OK, that's that's amazing. I know we're going to come back to lots of topics. Thank you both. Thank you. Sorry, Don as well. But I want to so I want to thank all our panelists for the for a very insightful conversation so far. Let's now take some questions from our viewers, because I think we're getting a lot of viewers. So our first viewer asks, what are my chances of getting admitted to a community college if my English level isn't very high? Don, could I turn to you for that? Yes, I think the the the chances of getting admitted to community colleges are very high, because many community colleges offer ESL and do not require a TOEFL or an IELTS or an entrance exam to begin your studies. So when you arrive with the lower English level, you can start in our language learning programs that then allow you to easily transition into the academic programs once you're once you're ready. So there the admission process, as I mentioned earlier, is very is set up to be very easy because community colleges in general are all about access and wanting to get as many people in the door to access the education and English language classes under academic classes that we can. So most of the community colleges have special admissions advisors for international students that you should connect with and ask your questions. They're ready to help you get started. That's fantastic. So again, reach out, send an email, ask a question. Don't be shy. The students around the world, you know, use your education, USA advisors to to help, but you have to manage the admissions process yourself. And so it's great to know here that community colleges are so open, even if students don't have a high level of English, that that's not at all a barrier. So our next question is if I go to a community college, will there be many international students or will everyone else be from the United States? That's a great question. I'd like to ask you, Wayne. Yeah, sure. It really depends on which community college that you're looking at. There are some community colleges which are very large. They have over 100,000 students, but there are some that are very small and have just less than 5000 students. There are some that have a lot of international students, but there are some that have less than 100 or so. So it really depends and a lot of the community colleges do have information about that on their websites. So you can look to see how many international students they usually have from year to year. And and many of them even post where those students are coming from, how many countries, what languages they speak, etc. That's great. So basically if a student is looking for the right fit, she or he should do the research and they can find these answers. Where students are coming from, how many, how big the school is. Yes. And at the beginning, I said that community colleges are the largest, most diverse sector of U.S. higher education. And part of that is that a large portion of the immigrant communities in the U.S. also go to community colleges. It's a community colleges are their first choice for higher education. So you will also get immigrants from a lot of different countries that are there at community colleges as well. Thank you very much, Edward. Let me ask you just as you actually had this experience. What was Prince George's like just as a snapshot? Lots of international students, lots of Americans. How did you meet both? Yes, I did meet both. So Prince George's Community College, I would say was like a melting pot. So you had a lot of international students, but also you had American born students. So it's it was a good mix of both international and an American student. So I want to recall one thing, too. I I learned that you were student government president. That's correct, which is fantastic, which also indicates a lot of trust in you, including as an international student. How was that dynamic? I mean, you were elected by the student body to represent everybody. And I assume that you were dealing with all kinds of students. I was, I was actually you're right. I was elected by the student body. But in that position, I learned a lot about not only the American culture, but also how to deal with people. So that was a great experience because that you learn to develop yourself again, not being from here. You learn to acquaint yourself with things that are not normally familiar with you. So yeah, that was a good way for me to learn about the culture and also to grow my serve as an individual. That's fantastic. Thank you. Thank you both. Right. So our next question is, do community colleges have the same type of extracurricular activities or organizations that are found at universities? Dawn, let me let you let me ask you how things are at Kirkwood. Yeah, absolutely. At Kirkwood, our international students get involved in everything. We have intramural sports. We have competitive sports. We have student organizations, including the student government, like Edward mentioned, and clubs of all different kinds that you can get involved in, you know, STEM club, biology club. And there's and we have an international student leadership team started at Kirkwood, so you can serve on the government or on leadership team. So it's really a lot of options. That's fantastic. I'd like to also add that, yes, they do have lots of opportunities for students to become engaged with organizations on campus. They that for your institutions have, but they also have some that for your institutions do not have. I know that a few years ago, I came in contact with some community colleges in the Midwest that had a rodeo club that actually was a competitive rodeo. And so that's something unique, I think. That's fantastic. So the fact that there are so many different community colleges with so many students there also means that it sounds like they're very creative in extracurricular co-curricular activities. Yes, and not only on campus, but also connecting with the local community as well. OK, and that's a very important thing for us at EducationUSA. We want students to have a real experience in the United States and to be part and parcel of American communities, of our families, to have a real experience here and have every chance to benefit from the US. So and that means critical thinking, everything that happens in the classroom, but as well, experiences at home. So could you tell us a little bit about homestays because that's a little bit like co-curricular activities. Do students engage with families a lot with, you know, with their communities that they're in? Yes, well, they're located right there in the local community. Often homestays are with families that volunteer to take in international students. They're located in the local community and the families seek to provide opportunities for the international student to become involved in the local community, to meet friends there, to participate in events there. It's really a great introduction to the real America outside of the campus. And I'm sure that Dawn can probably speak to homestays also that she might provide through her institution as well. Absolutely, Dawn, can we turn to you? Yeah, right. We have, at Kirkwood, we have homestays as well as mentor family opportunities so that we can connect students with families in the community so they can go to their homes for holidays and different activities, go to parks, go to athletic events. But also we do a lot of community service with our international students, so we connect them with local organizations. Community service and volunteering is kind of part of American culture, so we try to introduce our international students to that as well. We've had students, how a home, like Habitat for Humanity, all types of different things so that they get involved and meet other Americans who are also doing this type of volunteer activity and that's been really successful. That's fantastic. Thank you so much, Dawn and Wayne. Our next question, our viewer asks, there are so many community colleges in the USA. How do I choose the right one for me? Excellent question. Wayne, let me turn to you. Yes, there are a lot of community colleges and it is a large country. And we were talking about that a little bit earlier and so to narrow it down, you can even narrow it down by location. Whether or not you'd like to study in a large cosmopolitan urban city or if you'd like to study in a small urban town, you can also choose to study in places where it's warm year round or in places where you can experience the snow in the wintertime. The four seasons, right, exactly. So it's about doing research. Dawn, anything you want to add about how students find their way to you, for example? Right, I think it's also important for students to look and see what type of services are available to international students at that particular college that they're going to because, as Wayne mentioned, there's so much diversity in community colleges and some community colleges are more involved in international activities than others and maybe have more international students or more access to international programming. So I think that's an important thing to consider and make sure you talk to somebody at the institution. Most colleges will have a way for you to talk to a current student or get on their Facebook site and interact with some current students. So you kind of know the culture of that college before you go. That's great advice. Thank you very much. Also, I'd like to add that articulation agreements are more common between community colleges and four-year colleges and universities in the same state. We have 50 different states, but you may also wish to choose which community college by what state the four-year institution or college is located in. That's very good advice. So I think so both are linked. I know there is a trend or at least the beginning of what might be a trend for articulation agreements between institutions in different states. That is even like very far away. Oh, yeah. I know some community colleges on the West Coast that have articulation agreements with four-year colleges and institutions on the East Coast. Is there a way to see which institutions? Do you just have to go to each institution's website to see where their agreements are? Is there a compilation of that somewhere? That's probably the best way to do it, is to actually look at if you know which four-year institution you wish to go to, look at that institution's website. If you know which community college you'd like to go to because the location, et cetera, to check the website of the community college to see which four-year institutions they have articulation agreements with. That's a great point so you can start at either end. You can start looking at the four-year or the two-year and vice versa. Absolutely. Dawn, just to go back to you quickly, can you tell us where does Kirkwood have articulation agreements with? So we have articulation agreements with most all the universities and colleges in our state, which is Iowa, but also in some bordering states. And even if we don't have a specific articulation agreement, we have students transfer to over 50 different states and oppress the world because usually we've had students transfer to California or to the East Coast or to Texas. So students can transfer the credits because as long as a community college is an accredited institution, the credits are accredited by the same body as the universities are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. So we need to make sure students don't just get limited by just the articulation because in general, students can transfer anywhere. We have our motto, start here, go anywhere. And a lot of community colleges say that because it really is true. That is a fantastic point. Thank you for that. Yes, and so I made a great point looking for community colleges that are accredited and it's really the regional accreditation that students should look for. And I'd like to point out that our Association American Association Community Colleges has a database on their website of all the accredited community colleges in the US. So they can look there, you can look by location and you can also look by the name of the institution. That's, thank you both. That's fantastic advice. So students, as you're researching, look at these databases, talk to your education USA advisors who can help. But this is how you do your research and come up with the institutions that you're interested in that could be a right fit. And Dawn's point that you can transfer anywhere as if you can get in that an articulation agreement simply it helps you go to a place but you can still transfer anywhere, you can apply anywhere and the credits count. She even made the point that some community colleges have articulation agreements with institutions outside of the country. Right, yeah, it's quite incredible. So a lot of food for thought and another reason to look at community colleges. Let's go to a question from Ihan from Turkey who is asking I am currently studying in my home country when is the appropriate time to start applying to a community college in the US? Maybe that's a good question for you, Dawn. You need to apply at least a couple of months prior to the start of the semester that you want to begin in. And typically some community colleges are on semester, some of them are on quarter. So they might have three start times in a year or four start times in a year. Because we try to make the admission process very smooth, usually you can apply just a couple of months, at least eight to 12 weeks prior to the start of the semester. The important thing is to give yourself time to get the visa which is what the Education USA advisors will help you do once you get your I-20. So it will depend a little bit on which country you're from but we usually would advise you to apply as early as you can if you know where you're going. You might as well get that application in early so you get the I-20 and you're ready to go get your visa and prepare before you arrive. Some of our institutions even have rolling admissions so you can really apply at any time and then the next semester or quarter that comes up you can get into those courses. So basically reach out to the institution and ask and see what the timeline is, rolling admissions or if there's a fixed admissions deadline. Edward I'm curious, how did this work with you? When did you apply and how did you decide when to apply? So originally coming here I was hoping to go to Capitol Technology University but when I got here I realized it was very expensive. So I applied as soon as I got here then a month after I applied to a community college because the university I was trying to go into was like I think $14,000 a semester $14,000 a semester whereas Prince George's Community College was not up to $3,000 a semester. So I applied as soon as I got here a month later I applied to a community college. So you did your homework and you applied right away? Absolutely. Was it because there was a deadline upcoming or was it a running admission? It was a running admission actually it was a running admission and like she said usually they have admissions quarterly so it's not only once a semester you could have it for the fall and have midway through the fall then before the winter session starts as well. Did you find good information on websites? I mean when you were researching this? I did find good information but I found that it also helps to go there in person because you get the chance to talk to an actual person and voice out all your concerns and questions. So if people are in the U.S. of course they can just... Absolutely. But if they're not in the U.S. they could send emails or use the websites. Yes and now most websites are actually updated very often so the information you find on there could be very, very helpful as well. Okay, excellent. Thank you very much. I'm sure the Education USA advisors have a lot of that information also about when to apply. Definitely, yeah, absolutely. That's part of any good part of the five step process. The way we think of it in terms of applying is really timing your application well. Thank you very much, that's excellent. So we have, I know that we've spoken about this but it's good to emphasize certain points because our viewers are really thinking about certain issues. Do I need to take a standardized test to apply to a community college? Dawn, could you go through that again? Right, again, all community colleges are different but I would say most community colleges do not require a standardized test for admission to the community college. So you should be fine at most community colleges without any kind of standardized test for admission. If you have taken it, which is still a good idea if you're still keeping your options open like a TOEFL or an IELTS, those type of tests you could send your results. But for example, I would say 95% don't require ACT, SAT, GMAT, GRE, any of those type of tests are not usually required. So it means that your grades at community college are all the more important because what you're using to apply then to a four year institution would be your record, essentially your record from community college, is that right? That's right, right. It's really important to pay attention to your grades while you're at the community college because if you get good grades at the community college there's a chance you could get a scholarship at the university that you're going to go to and also setting yourself up to be well-prepared for university classes. There's studies that have been done that have shown that students who start at community colleges are actually more successful at the university than students who start as a freshman. So that's because we really individualize the instruction and we try to really keep track of our students and check on them. For example, if someone's not going to class the instructors are gonna know and they're probably gonna reach out to my office, the international office and ask, hey, what happened to Edward? Where is he today? And we'll try to find them and see what's going on. We really care about our students. That's that, please Edward. To pick it up from where it don't end at, keeping up good grades is very important because once you have a certain GPA, Honor Society starts sending you invitation letters. Like you mentioned, Fight to the Copper Honor Society. If you have above a 3.0 GPA, I think, automatically they send you an email inviting you to join them because of your outstanding work. So maintaining a good GPA is very important and it also opens doors to numerous scholarships and other opportunities as well. That's great advice. One of the things that we're very proud about when we talk about an American higher education overseas is the quality of our education and emphasizing to students around the world that the reason to come to the United States, one of the reasons is the personal attention they get on all our campuses. That our schools are dedicated to their academic professional and personal success. And I think this example of community colleges about how you do this is the best one of really a focus on the student's best interest and that success moving forward. So let's go to our next question because I know we have a lot. Osama from Israel would like to know is there an age limit to enter community colleges? That's a great question. Wayne, do you want to take that? Well, there isn't such a stringent age requirement as you might find at a four year college university. The average age of a community college student is around 28 years old. But there are some community colleges that have, for instance, high school completion programs. Many community colleges, actually the whole sector have enrolls the largest number of plus 50 students. Also about 8% of students at community colleges already have their bachelor's degree. So it really depends, but in general, generally speaking, you would have to have graduated from high school. I think that's across the board. Could get you into community college, but like I said, some have high school completion programs as well. Okay, that's great. Edward, did you see, were there all ages in your program? Absolutely, it's interesting because I made friends with a lot of people who were older than I was. I had some friends who were 40, 50, and it's interesting to be young and try to learn from people who were older than you. So I did have that experience learning from other people. That's great. So that's a part of the whole experience? Absolutely, and I guess that's where it gets its name from, the community college. It's like a community of different individuals all together in the same learning environment. That's a great way to see it. And actually Prince George has a special program where they actually have a high school on their campus. Right, that's amazing. So you have a lot of high schoolers who go to class with us, and when we graduate with our associate's degree, in the morning they graduate with the high school diplomas and in the evening they graduate with an associate's degree. So it's really incredible. Yeah, so they can graduate with both, the high school diploma and associate's degree at the same time. Simultaneously. That's so creative. So actually that's great because it leads into our next question, which I'll ask Don. Our viewer asks, what degree do you earn after successfully completing community college? Right, so the name of the degree is the associate's degree. So if you go two years to community college, you can. Yes, as Don said, a two year degree is called an associate's degree in the US. And so that's what you would get from a community college. But I'd like to also point out that there are some community colleges that offer baccalaureate degrees in applied fields. So a community college may offer a bachelor's degree depending on which field that you're studying as well. Very interesting. So it can depend on the college as well as the field. OK, Edward, do you notice Prince George's offer any bachelor's degrees? At one of its extension centers, yes. The Laurel College Center, because Prince George's community college has at least four extension centers. Aside from the main campus in Largo. So I know Laurel College Center in partnership with Morgan State University and the University of Maryland University College does offer bachelor's degree and baccalaureate degrees as well. OK, OK, thank you. It's good to get that specific perspective. This is an example. So our next viewer, Christine, asks, how do international students apply for scholarships and financial aid? Don, can I go to you again? Yes. So for example, at Kirkwood, you would apply for the scholarships as you're applying for admission. But as Wayne mentioned, at Kirkwood we do have some scholarships for incoming students. But at some institutions, you might have to wait until you're a current student, which you can also do at Kirkwood. And most colleges will have a scholarship office that has a separate application for applying, which typically are very easy applications. It's just a matter of filling it out, submitting it, and if you have good grades that typically qualifies you for something, you might get a different type of scholarship, like an athletic scholarship. If you're interested in the athletic scholarships, you really need to contact the coach that is responsible for that particular sport at your college in order to apply for the scholarship. So there might be different ways of doing it at each institution, but there's usually somebody you can ask at the institution about what the process is there. Fantastic. So reach out, ask the questions early. Our next viewer, Jocelyn, would like to know what kind of honors programs are available at community colleges. Edward, I know you spoke, and you talked a little bit about what was available. Yes. So two main honors programs that I know of at Prince George's Community College was Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, as well as the National Society of Community Colleges. So those honor society work pretty much simply. If you have a good GPA and you're a student in good academic standing, they would send you the invitation. And all you have to do is reach back out to them and subscribe to the honor society. OK, interesting. Wayne, anything you want to add? Not really, but I guess belonging to honor society, also the society provides you with a lot of information that you might wish to have if you're transferring. For instance, I mentioned that on Phi Theta Kappa's website, they have a robust database of information about transfer scholarships. And they also have other activities that students can engage in as well, volunteer activities. I think there are some study abroad and research opportunities that they have that their members participate in as well. Fantastic. So to look at honors opportunities in a holistic perspective and say lots of things can flow from that as well, being associated to those programs. OK, so our next question is from the viewing party at the Education USA Center in Medellin, Colombia. Our viewers ask, what is the price range for community colleges? That's a great and important question. Wayne, can I turn to you for that? Well, it's been a number of years since I've actually looked at that. But when I did, it was I like to stay away from the exact numbers, just like I said it was a few years ago. But when I looked at it, international students could expect to pay less than one third the cost that they would normally have to pay at a four-year public college or university. And if you're talking about a private four-year college or university, it's just a fraction of the cost. Because that can be at a private institution, it could be $40,000, $50,000 in some sort of year. Don, would you be able to give us some perspective from where you sit? Sure, there is a range of costs. So you'll find in some states it's quite a bit less than other states. But for example, at Kirkwood, the tuition alone is about $9,000 per year. So that is substantially lower than, say, universities that are in our region. But you'll find there is some variation. So each state will be a little bit different. OK, thank you very much. And so students need to research this. This is a big thing that they need to look into specifically. Don, if I can stay with you for our next question. Our question, they ask, do community colleges provide any support for off-campus internships? Do you have any programs like that? We do, actually. So one of our programs at Kirkwood is our hospitality and tourism management program. And for that program, for example, internship is required. And you'll find that community colleges in general, and we will help students to find an internship and also to get the appropriate authorization to work in the United States. OK, thank you very much, Edward. Did you have internship options? Did you think about that? I did have internship options. One thing that I know at Prince George's Community College, at the beginning of every year, we have job fairs. So during those fairs, you have companies from across DC, Maryland, Virginia, come to the college and actually talk to students. So if your resume is convincing, again, you have to do your own homework, by presenting a very good resume, you would certainly always get those opportunities for internships. I like the fact that you always bring us back to it. It's an individual responsibility. Students have to do this. They have to work at it. Nothing comes automatically, but there are lots of opportunities. Right, think about it. If a job recruiter has five opportunities for internships and he has 1,000 students coming across this table, you have to stand out. So if your resume stands out, if you could speak for yourself, if you could sell yourself, you would definitely get those opportunities. That's fantastic. That's very good advice. And I like to add that community colleges often, because they have such close ties to their local communities, often have very close ties to private industry within those communities as well. It sounds like a wide variety of industry that, in fact, may not think of going to a four-year college. Very interesting, very interesting. A lot of food for thought for our viewers. Our next question is, do most community colleges have dorms, or do I need to get an apartment off campus? We spoke about this, but let's go back. Dawn, can I ask you, how does it look at Kirkwood? So at Kirkwood, we don't own our own housing, but we partner with many local apartments that are within walking distance of the campus. So I found this to be a trend at a lot of other community colleges too, where we have 4,000 apartment spots that are open around the campus, and we partner with them. And it's primarily like student housing. They have resident assistance. They even have activities going on. So even if the college doesn't own their own housing, there's probably a good housing option nearby where a lot of students live that we can refer you to. Thank you, Dawn. And that's very much what you described before, about lots of different options. Community colleges are thinking about this. They're organized for this. They have advice for students and information. And I assume, like the college, the idea is that this is housing that's affordable for students, and that it is student housing. Right, right. Would you say that's fair, Dawn? Yes, absolutely. That is definitely true. OK, I appreciate that. And sorry for the technical issues that we're having. So our next question is, how can a community college prepare me for different job opportunities and careers? That's an excellent question, because not everyone is going to go on to a four-year institution or want to go on to an institution. Many community colleges are actually, their purpose is to prepare students to go right into the job market. Dawn, how do you see that? You mentioned hospitality. Edward did computer science. Right. That's an interesting thing. What are those areas where students are looking at jobs right away? Well, there's a lot of areas, particularly business and IT. We have a lot of also applied science areas where students are going directly into the workforce. Even liberal arts, when students can get that work experience where Wayne talked about having an optional practical training year in between your associate's degree and your completion of your bachelor degree, those work experience are invaluable as you're working towards your career and what you want to do in your life. So we have a career services office. And most community colleges have career services office that do mock interviews, that will have career fairs that will help you to plan out your resume. All of those type of hands-on things that you need for job seeking. Thank you very much, Dawn. Wayne, anything that you want to add to that perspective, because you see a lot of community colleges, right? Is this common? It's very common. About more than half of the students at community colleges, they do come to transfer to four-year colleges at university universities. About 58% of them. The other portion are coming to go directly into the workforce. And that's usually in the form of obtaining a certificate to go directly into the workforce. And as Dawn had mentioned, there are community colleges have very close ties to industry and also provide great opportunities, even before they graduate, to work on state-of-the-art equipment, for instance, on the campus and in the various industries and to really equip the student to function properly and successfully once they come to an employer. Or Prince George's, I believe they have a special program. We work very closely with the employer at the nuclear power plant, where they provide even scholarships to students who wish to go into that program and provide state-of-the-art equipment for them to train on in order to go into the field. That's incredible. So the thing to really take away from this is that this is state-of-the-art. I mean, community colleges are excellent institutions that have a time, because their focus is on the practical results for students, right? It's jobs or it's further study. But it's all about launching students into a positive career and professional path. Absolutely. And at the association, actually, we help to administer the Advanced Technological Education Program that the National Science Foundation funds. And that prepares students to be technicians in cutting-edge technologies that are important to the economy for the nation. And that effort is led by community colleges around the country who partner with Fourier institutions as well as high schools and private industry. That's fantastic. Thank you very much. Our next question is, this is a really good one, how they've all been very good. But this may have was something I was wondering about, how do I declare a major at a community college? Or am I just beginning courses and I would do so later? How does that work? Wayne, and then we'll go to all of you. Yeah, I can answer a little bit, but I think Don might have more detailed information. Community colleges do offer majors for students who are attending. However, in particular, for students who are looking to transfer, you're really getting the introductory classes that you would normally get at a four-year college or university. I know when I was going those first two years, we're really sort of introductory classes, requirements to go into certain fields once I got to be a junior. OK, interesting. Don, how does it work at Kirkwood? Right, so what Wayne is talking about is usually referred to as liberal arts. So students would declare the major of liberal arts if they're going to be transferring to a four-year university in a variety of subjects. But they could also choose to have a major such as nursing or the hospitality management program, computer science, engineering, if they have a specific path. So we try to meet with each student at the beginning, identify their pathway, and make sure they're on the right track to get to the point they need to when they transfer, or if they're looking for that two-year degree and say nursing, that they complete all the requirements in that time. OK, thank you very much. Our final question, what types of support are offered to international students at community colleges? That's kind of a very wide-ranging question. We've heard about lots of different things. But campuses have support services. Dawn, how does that work on your campus and generally in terms of thinking about interacting with students as they move through the system? I think it's often overwhelming to international students how many services are provided to them for free when they arrive at a community college. Because for example, we have a free recreation center. We have free counseling. We have free advising. So many services. The career counseling I talked about are all part and parcel of being a community college student. There's international student advisors that help with cultural adjustment. There's just so many services available that sometimes it can be a little overwhelming. So it just takes some time to adjust to all the things that are available to you. I believe it. Edward, let me ask you, what was your experience in person? To pick it up from where Dawn ended, it's overwhelming when you get to a community college at first. Never been in America, you get there. There are a lot of resources to help guide you. Because again, most community colleges have different pathways. So I, for one, I went there knowing I wanted to transfer. But if you're going there, let's say for example, to get a degree and get straight into the workforce, it's going to be different. So I really got guidance as to what classes I needed to take that would help me transfer. That was one of the good things I really appreciated about community college. But also guidance as to how to deal with financial literacy, for example. Those were things that, coming into the country, even no one tells you about you end up having debt or finding yourself in a very bad posture financially. So those are the type of guidance I got at Prince George's Community College through the Financial Empowerment Center. You also have counseling. So if you have a problem or if you're suffering from stress or whatever, you could go there and talk to a counselor or someone who would guide you. And you also have the health center if you have a headache or a fever. So just these type of resources are available to us. And that really makes your experience at a community college really unique. And one thing I also want to mention is student support services. That's student clubs. There is an experience in the classroom, but the experience outside of the classroom also matters to me. Because you can't get everything from a professor. Certain things you need to learn from other people and you need to learn in life. So all these services combined together really made my experience good at Prince George's Community College. That's amazing to hear. And that's really an impressive list of things that enhance a student's whole life. Right. Yeah, and there's an assumption that I want to say specifically about tutoring services that are available at community colleges as well as services for students who have disabilities as well. All institutions in the US have services for those students who have disabilities. And community colleges do as well. I'm so glad you pointed that out, Wayne. That's great. We did a webinar regarding facilities for students with disabilities just a little while ago. And that's a fantastic point that extends to community colleges as well. Absolutely. A fantastic range. So everything from the academic part of things, the personal side of things, the co-curricular side of things, there are all kinds of services. Absolutely. That's a great vision. So unfortunately, we are almost out of time. But I would like to ask each of our participants to share a final thought for our viewers. Dawn, could I start with you? Sure. I would just like to invite everyone to reach out to someone at a community college as you're making this decision to decide on your future education. Because for the majority, like Wayne mentioned, of students in the United States, they look at this option as well. And I think it's a little known type of educational opportunity that's available to international students and really provides a wonderful transition. There's so many people just ready on the phone or on a video conference to chat with you about it. So reach out and ask your questions. That's my final comment. That's a great vision. Thank you, Dawn. Wayne. Yes. I'd like to mention once again that community colleges are a great opportunity for international students. They provide a high quality education for a lower cost. Each year, our association honors outstanding alumni who are leaders in their field who started out at community colleges, who have gone on to do very wonderful things and won international awards for the work that they do. So I just want to mention that and let people know that community colleges are really looking for and welcoming international students on their campus. Thank you. That's a great vision to leave our viewers with. Thank you, Wayne. Edward. So like I earlier mentioned, when I came to this country, I didn't want to go to a community college because there's always this conception that four-year universities are better than community colleges. But now, having gone through a community college, I would say it's a great experience for an international student because you're immersed in the American culture and you have really, really opportunities to discover yourself and to not only excel academically, but to excel as a person. And one thing any international student should keep at the back of his or her mind coming to the United States is you have to frame your future. So even at a community college, you have to keep doing your research. At a community college, if you want scholarships and anything that you want, you have to go out there and get it because you are the hero of your story. And everything that you do depends on you. Fantastic words of advice, Edward. I can't thank you enough. That's an amazing way to thank for every student, no matter what year he wants to pursue in life and in studies. Thank you for joining us today. And of course, a special thank you to our guests, Don, Wayne, and Edward. A very special thanks to our viewing groups joining us from around the world, and especially those at the American Corner in Pristina Kosovo, Education USA in Medellin, Colombia, Education USA in Managua, Nicaragua, and Education USA in Maracaibo, Venezuela. I also want to issue a special thanks to our Global Public Affairs video team who does such fantastic work to produce these webinars. And our whole team at Education USA who is running them behind the scenes. You do fantastic work. You can find more information about studying in the United States by visiting the Education USA website at www.educationusa.state.gov. There you can find information on the five steps to US study, locate an Education USA advising center in your country, one of 439 around the world, connect with us via social media, learn about both in-person and virtual upcoming events, research financial aid opportunities, and much more. Thank you, and please join us for future Education USA interactive web chats. Goodbye from Washington.