Community colleges in area compared to nation

With tuition costs continuing to rise across the country, the amount of financial strain is often a major consideration when choosing a college. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this has become an even bigger concern.

One option that offers less stress on finances is choosing a community college, which still allows students the ability to get a higher education. According to research from CollegeBoard, tuition and fees for full-time, in-state enrollment at a public two-year college averaged $3,730, as opposed to $10,440 at a public fouryear institution and $36,880 at a four-year private school. Students who earn general-education credits at a community college before transferring to an in-state public four-year university can potentially save a good amount of money.

Other than being an affordable option, community colleges also allow for more flexible schedules, smaller class sizes and rigorous coursework.

To decide which community college might be right for Texans, as well as all Americans, a new WalletHub study has been released analyzing over 650 community colleges across 18 key indicators of cost and quality. In the study, WalletHub used data from the National Center for Education Statistics, Campaign for Free College Tuition, U.S. Department of Education and Council for Community & Economic Research.

The indicators come from three main categories:

-Cost and Financing: Determined by cost of in-state tuition and fees, presence of free community-college education and faculty salary, among other indicators.

-Education Outcomes: Determined by first-year retention rate, graduation rate and transfer-out rate of the school, as well as other factors.

-Career Outcomes: Determined by student-loan default rate, median salary of graduates after attending, and share of former students earning above the average earnings of a high school gradate. The last metric measures the share of former students earning more than $25,000 (about the average earnings of a high school graduate aged 25 to 34 years) six years after they first enrolled.

Out of the 698 national colleges ranked by these metrics, Corsicana’s Navarro College ranks #678, missing the mark on many of WalletHub’s indicators. The “Cost and Financing” rank of the college was #574 overall, the “Education Outcomes” rank was #668, and the “Career Outcomes” rank was #499.

Other East/Central Texas colleges on the list included (in descending rank order):

-Blinn College (campuses in Brenham, Bryan, Sealy and Schulenberg): #636 Cost/Financing, #452 Education Outcomes, #29 Career Outcomes, #415 overall

-Panola College (Carthage): #480 Cost/Financing, #577 Education Outcomes, #74 Career Outcomes, #424 overall

-Hill College (Hillsboro): #555 Cost/Financing, #374 Education Outcomes, #178 Career Outcomes, #451 overall

-McLennan Community College (Waco): #497 Cost/ Financing, #247 Education Outcomes, #344 Career Outcomes, #469 overall

-Temple College (Temple): #541 Cost/Financing, #296 Education Outcomes, #326 Career Outcomes, #498 overall

-Angelina College (Lufkin): #623 Cost/Financing, #657 Education Outcomes, #372 Career Outcomes, #675 overall

Looking at all Texas community colleges, the top five finishers on the list were Alvin Community College (#184 national), Victoria College (#304 national), San Jacinto Community College (#333 national), Del Mar College (#342 national), and Lee College (#345 overall).

A separate WalletHub study ranking the best community college systems in the nation put Texas at #33 of the 41 states measured. The states with the best community college systems, according to the study, are Wyoming, Washington, Maryland, Hawaii and Connecticut.

For more information on the ranking of community colleges, visit https://wallethub. com/edu/e/best-worst-community-colleges/15076/. For more information on the states with the best and worst community college systems, visit https://wallethub.com/ edu/e/states-with-best-worstcommunity-college-systems/15073/.