Give junior colleges a try

Corinthian College Inc. announced the closing of 28 ground campuses this past Sunday. Roughly 16, 000 California college students were displaced. According to an MSNBC article, it’s “believed to be the biggest shutdown in the history of higher education in the United States.” Maybe if the students in question had attended a junior college, this might not have happened to them.

We don’t want to blame the students themselves — they thought they were doing the best thing for their futures. It just seems a little strange that people would choose a for-profit college over a non-profit school.

Though some large for-profit, private career colleges like Heald have renowned programs, it’s more expensive than the education you’d receive at a community college. When you think about it, the name already implies they’re out for monetary gain. Corinthians College Inc. was put on financial probation last June by the U.S. Department of Education, limiting the actions of the company.

Things got progressively worse after it came out earlier this month that Heald College falsified student success rates. Still the decision of the Department of Education didn’t step in early enough to shut down the whole operation, leaving college students in a serious bind.

According to a Huffington Post article, the department referred these displaced individuals to schools such as ITT Tech, EDMC and Career Education Corporation ran by companies, which like Corinthians, “is under investigation by federal and state law enforcement.”

Say what you will about how “ghetto” Los Medanos College is but consider this: the scandal at Heald wouldn’t have happened here. LMC cares about it students, not just the money or dust bunnies in their pockets.

JC’s have their share of issues — some community colleges don’t offer every course for certain programs but there can always be a discussion to open funding for new programs, beside it might take you longer to get out of a junior college but the pricing is convenient and therefore worth it.