Community Colleges in USA are probably the most under-rated and least understood by Singaporeans. Most Singaporeans would probably have not even heard of USA Community Colleges at all. It might be good to at least note that USA community colleges are gaining popularity with recent statistics showing that there are about 100,000 international students attending community colleges in the USA.

Universities in USA are typical four-year. The first 2 years of a four-year university in USA is mostly made up of what we call lower division core (general education) courses. These courses provides breath and general knowledge which are similar and comparable across universities in USA. Some of the lower division general education course may include courses such as academic writing, foreign languages, history and literature. Courses are usually numbered in the 100 to 200 range. The final 2 years of university offers mostly upper division course which provides in-depth study and specialization or major in a particular field of study or profession. Courses are usually numbered in the 300 to 400 range.

So what do Community Colleges offer that are interesting to international students?

Transfer to Top Universities

Community Colleges offer two-year programs that all typically seen as the first 2 years of a four-year university where students will be study the lower division core (general education) courses. These two-year programs often lead to offering of an Associate of Arts (AA) or Associate of Science (AS) degree which is like a Diploma. The academic credit earned at the Community College can be transferred to a university in USA to complete the final 2 years of a four-year university. This transfer from Community College to four-year university is popularly termed as "2+2".

Most Community Colleges will also have transfer university partnerships through formal articulation agreements. Some of these formal articulation agreements might offer a Guaranteed Transfer Admission or Preferred Transfer Admission for international students. Students can be admitted to top universities such as Stanford, Yale, Cornell, UC Berkeley, UCLA, University of Michigan, Purdue University, just to name a few.

Programs offered by Community College include business, computer science, hospitality management, arts and design, IT, psychology, engineering and many more.