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Comment by ipince | Hacker News Reader

I never knew community colleges were predatory and for profit. Aren't they public institutions? Do you have any good references you can share? Thanks

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They aren't predatory or for profit. I teach at a community college. I will also say that many community colleges offer online courses that are much cheaper (and more respected) than University of Phoenix. (One of the classes I'm teaching was already online this semester so I didn't have to adjust it much to the current situation.)

You're dealing in absolutes without realizing that each state, county, et al, are operated differently. In addition, and as noted and another comment, I am talking about a localized experience 10+ years in the past.

Where I came from (NE Ohio) most of their students took longer than 4 years to graduate with a 2 year degree and many more never finished. The quality of curriculum and teaching was typically poor and the equipment was only adequate. It was and probably still is, for the average customer, a waste of money.

This is the complete opposite of what my friends and family have experienced. Many of their favorite teachers worked at community colleges. Specifically at Austin and Houston community colleges. And they got their undergrad at more prestigious universities like University of Texas at Austin.

This is the complete opposite of what my friends and family have experienced. Many of their favorite teachers worked at community colleges. Specifically at Austin and Houston community colleges. And many got their undergrad at more prestigious universities like University of Texas at Austin.

Nobody here is saying the teachers were bad.

That's how I read

> The quality of curriculum and teaching was typically poor

>most of their students took longer than 4 years to graduate with a 2 year degree and many more never finished

I think this is, perhaps, to be expected. 4-year universities practice selective admissions, whereas community colleges generally let anyone enroll. Community colleges make opportunities available to all, including some who find they aren't well prepared for them.

> the equipment was only adequate.

Tuition is much cheaper than at 4-year universities. This is inevitable.

In my experience with community colleges it was more physical fees that were an issue. Professor pay and work load issues, extreme parking fees, profit driven book deals (locking professors in to using books they would not choose), sales, exchanges and refunds. It was not uncommon to spend $200 on a book, and the next quarter have the book for the curriculum changed so that you could not sell your now outdated copy back. If the book wasn't changed, your now used book could be sold back to the school, but devalued by as much as 80%.

Mind you this was 10+ years ago. Maybe things have changed.

In my understanding, community colleges are usually public and nonprofit. Tuition tends to be much cheaper than at four-year public universities (which are in turn much cheaper than privates). They tend to run shoestring budgets -- certainly this contributes to the professor pay and work load issues you also mentioned, and probably also the parking fees.

As for the textbooks, I'm curious what you observed? I'm unaware of any university profiting in this manner. I am extremely aware of textbook publishers profiteering, as well as the occasional individual professor-author who shamelessly convinces the rest of their department to adopt whatever book they wrote.

But the most likely reason that the book changed, in my estimation, is that individual faculty members are often given leeway to choose their own textbooks. This has some negative consequences, but in my opinion it's a good system overall.

And, incidentally, if you want the best deals -- then I'd recommend that you neither buy your books from the school, nor sell them back to the school.

That was my experience at both community college and California state schools

I would have never described Tarrant County College as predatory.. Value.

I think _eht is describing the University of Phoenix as predatory and for profit. Not the CC.

I'm not from the USA, but UoP is notorious.

> The stigma for attending one of these schools is terrible. Not undeserved, as they are predatory and for profit. But so are community colleges, in maybe different ways, but for the same reasons.

Emphasis not in original.

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