I initially started my college career attending an out of state university straight out of high school. I was eighteen at the time with no idea of what I wanted to major in, was not taking my education serious, and was taking out student loans to help pay my tuition and on campus dorm and board fees. I was an undeclared college freshman unsure of a lot of things, but one thing I did believe was that a four year institution was going to provide me a better, more enriching college experience rather than taking the financially smarter route by starting off at a community college. Despite countless faculty and staff from my high school glorifying a four-year institution as the best choice for incoming freshman, the option of attending a community college is often downplayed, and I wished they would have taken my financial background into consideration so they could have helped me decide a financially better path for me to start my college career. Had I known what I know now, I would have started off at community college first before attending a four-year institution.

Unfortunately, the college/university system has accustomed incoming freshman to thinking community college is not as good to start your college experience as much as pushing you towards a four year. Now I am not saying that incoming freshman entering a four-year altogether is wrong, but I do feel that the push for a four-year path without much regard to students’ future job prospects should be reconsidered for the following three reasons: money, flexibility to discover your passion, and having a better chance being admitted into your dream school.

 First and foremost, nearly a third of first-year college students select then change their major at least once within the first three years of college. More specifically, first-year community college students will do the same but pay a fraction of the cost per unit as oppose to their first-year university peers. Taking this into consideration not only prevents the student from spending twice as much at a four-year institution on general education courses, but this also allows students the financial flexibility to explore various courses in different majors to help them decide what they want to major in without the financial pressure of being extra selective for classes that cost twice the amount.

Secondly, students are exploring what they are passionate about through taking diverse courses from different majors. This goes hand-in-hand with the first point since students are still deciding whether or not they are sure in what they want to major in. Not only does this solidify their decision in what they want to major in, but this prevents them from later changing it when it becomes more costly, unlike first-year university students who experience the same changes and unfortunately pay more out of pocket to do so.

Lastly, you have a better chance of being admitted into your dream school by not only meeting their admission requirements, but you bypass lower division general education courses that count towards your degree as a transfer student. On top of that, you are more likely to be eligible to join the California Promise Program, which guarantees that you will graduate on track within the next two years and receive priority registration for the rest of your undergraduate career. There are also many programs geared towards the success for transfer students adapting to the four-year system. For example, Cal Poly Pomona’s Poly Transfer program is geared towards helping incoming transfers transition from community college into university. This gives those the opportunity to feel welcomed onto campus by being shown all the campus resources and be acquainted with other Cal Poly students. This solidifies the ultimate university experience that former community college students will now get to experience without accumulating as much student loan debt as their university peers that started off at the university.

It ultimately does not matter where you start, but more importantly where you will end.