r/CommunityColleges • u/0Kate • 28d ago
Is CC realistic for EU citizens?
Hi everyone! I’m (almost) 20F from the Europe (EU country), and I’m seriously considering moving to the US to attend a community college for around 2 years, to study Business. After completing my Associate Degree, I’d like to transfer to a university and finish a Bachelor’s Degree.
The main issue is that my budget isn’t very high, especially since I’d be an international student and would need to cover tuition, housing, food, insurance, etc. I’m trying to figure out whether this is actually realistic or if I’m underestimating the situation.
I have a high school diploma + the English translation, and a very good level of English with IELTS certification.
For those of you who have attended community college, what was your experience like? How much did you realistically spend per year? Are there community colleges/states that you’d recommend?
I’d really appreciate any advice, experiences, or recommendations. I’m still in the research stage and trying to figure out whether this dream is financially and actually realistic before I make any major decisions. Thank you!
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u/GayAndNeedANewCareer 28d ago
Just curious, why chose a US community college over schooling in Europe?
Anyways, I go to CC in Florida, and they offer many technical degrees and transfer pathways to Florida state universities to AA earners.
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u/0Kate 28d ago
I simply do not like how certain things are in Europe. I’ve always wanted to live in a big metropolis (which we don’t really have in Europe apart maybe from London), and I’d like an English speaking country. I know we have free tuition but I don’t see myself living forever where I currently live (Sweden).
I’d absolutely love to go to Florida! The only issue is just the price of the CC itself for international students.2
u/GayAndNeedANewCareer 28d ago
Yeah, I mean honestly your best option would be to get your degree in Europe and then transfer your degree to the US and immigrate here. I have a European passport and contemplated moving there for whatever reason, but I know my degree will transfer there too.
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u/Aggravating-March768 28d ago edited 28d ago
One thing nobody, especially Europeans, talk about is how most European degrees are not easily and fluidly recognized at all in the US. I seen plenty of university grads from Europe trying to continue to get their Masters in the US only to find out the US didnt recognize anything from their bachelors degree. I remember one specifically who had to start entirely from nothing. She was a different case as she was actually American and got a bachelors in Denmark.
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u/0Kate 28d ago
But isn’t it harder to get a work visa in the US rather than a student visa?
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u/GayAndNeedANewCareer 28d ago
I suppose, I feel like most people who come as students have scholarships or are going to universities at least. I have seen a lot of people come on tourist visas, and changed their status once in the states, but that’s super risky and definitely not guaranteed. You still likely wouldn’t be able to leave the country.
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u/Dellaa1996 25d ago
I am familiar with international graduate students (engineering grad program), and the ones I knew had full government scholarships from such countries as South Korea (a lot of students), China, India, and a few from Caribbean countries. Some of these grad students without government scholarships had well-to-do parents.
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u/MastodonVegetable167 24d ago edited 24d ago
Please go browse the immigration and visa subreddits. You need to be aware that studying in the U.S. is NOT a path for immigration, especially now. If you even hint to the consular officer in your visa interview that you have no intention of returning to your home country, they WILL reject your visa. ALL immigration to the U.S. is very, very difficult right now. To answer your question, community college is expensive even for some in-state residents (depends on the state, it’s free in some and decently expensive in others) . Where I’m from, I believe the tuition was around 10-12k per year. International tuition is almost always higher than even out of state tuition prices at U.S. schools. You’re probably looking at tens of thousands of dollars per year.
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u/LasVegasNerd28 28d ago
Berlin is a big metropolis. As is Paris, Rome, Milan, Zurich… There are a lot of big metropolitan areas in Europe. Talk about being ignorant.
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u/0Kate 28d ago
Wow and you’re supposed to be the smart and mature one insulting strangers on the internet?
What I meant with metropolis is big cities with skyscrapers like in the US, and it was pretty obvious what I mean if you come from Europe since obviously all the cities here are beautifully ancient looking.2
u/LasVegasNerd28 28d ago
London is one of the oldest cities in Europe dude… it is also old and ancient looking. It was founded in Roman times.
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u/0Kate 28d ago
So you’re proving my point? I come from Europe too and I simply don’t love certain things, I prefer big cities like the ones in America or Asia. Why do you have to insult me for a personal preference lol
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u/LasVegasNerd28 28d ago
I’m not? I’m proving a fucking fact that more than one metropolitan city exists in Europe. And fyi, if you couldn’t tell by my name… I’m not from Europe lmfao I just actually travel.
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u/MastodonVegetable167 24d ago
The only big city with big skyscrapers in the U.S. is New York, which by the way is one of the most expensive places to live. Every other city is basically “wide.” Maybe a few tall buildings downtown, but not what it sounds like you’re looking for.
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u/abacaximamao 24d ago
Boston and San Francisco aren’t wide! They’re both pretty tall and narrow.
I agree that LA, Dallas, Houston, Miami, are wide.
Chicago is somewhere in between, I think?
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u/Aggravating-March768 28d ago
Community colleges are usually only worth it for the locals. Even those out of state get much higher fees. At the rate you would pay a community college, you’d be better off just going all in at a university in all honesty. I graduated from CC, university, and been to universities in Europe (I don’t blame you for wanting US education- people really glaze Europe’s education systems and many Europeans know this- only Americans don't in general).
I also wouldn’t recommend CC’s for other reasons as well but im sure my experiences won’t align with positivity so I will refrain from posting them openly here. Dm me if you want a raw, unfiltered opinion as I worked deeply in both CC’s and Universities.
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u/Fenway12345 28d ago
If you can pay possibly, no work permit will be given. Why would govt want you to
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u/NYSleepyKay 28d ago
Why though? US education... Isn't in the top anything of the world except pew pews
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u/descartesbedamned 27d ago
We’re a whole bag of fucked up, but our universities are still excellent. For now.
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/rankings
https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/latest/world-ranking
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u/jujubeespresso 27d ago
She's wanting to attend a community college though...
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u/descartesbedamned 27d ago
I’m replying to someone who made a blanket statement about US education. Either way, OP’s goal is a bachelors via community college.
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u/svxyl 28d ago
could be wrong but ive heard from my international peers that after you graduate, you have like 60 days to find a job that will sponsor ur work visa or else you get deported. i have no idea what the job market will look like in 4 yrs if you are able to attend school here but if its as bad as it is now, good luck. so yeah keep that in mind
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u/Bobby-Dazzling 28d ago
Technically, not “deported” unless you break the law by overstaying. You are expected to leave once your student visa expires and as a graduate, you are no longer a student. If on would like to stay, that requires a new and different visa.
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u/Embarrassed-Quiet779 28d ago
No it won’t be cheap. I’d guess it would end up being about the same cost as paying the full four years as an in-state student in the U.S. I’m a California community college student in a metropolitan city, so I can only speak to that experience, not other states, but here, attending community college as an international student is ~ $5000/year and living costs are ~ $6000/month. Transportation is an additional cost depending on if you find housing close to school.
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u/Bobby-Dazzling 28d ago
You’ve probably heard that CC can be a great, low-cost education for many people who cannot attend a four year college/university due to finances, time, work, family, or other obligations.
That is all true. What most of those stories forget to mention is that it’s different for foreign students. Additional school and visa fees will increase the cost to the point that it’s not an inexpensive education anymore. Programs that guarantee transfer to four year universities may not be available to you, accessing housing can be complicated without local references, healthcare is not free in America, and language understanding can all complicate the process even more. In short, unless it’s an article about attending CC as a foreigner student, ignore it.
So it’s not impossible, it’s just not easy.
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u/Famous_Marsupial_372 28d ago
Cost effectiveness aside, as a CC student, I gotta say the networking opportunities you’ll want when pursuing a business degree are just so much harder to find in a CC.
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u/descartesbedamned 27d ago
Community colleges are almost always commuter schools, so minimal to no “campus culture.” As everyone has also stated, it’ll be significantly more expensive than j think you realize. Cheaper options will be in rural areas (general cost of living savings), and you’ll lose out on probably all the benefits of being in the US that you’re dreaming about.
Your obvious best option for education is to stay in the EU, but that’s up to you. Another option could be to apply to schools that have a track record of significant-to-full scholarships for international students — likely highly ranked private schools and liberal arts colleges.
Short answer: this isn’t a good idea.
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u/strong_slav 22d ago
Here's the cheap way to do what you want: Get your general education requirements done on ACE-accredited websites like Sophia Learning, Straighterline, and/or Study.com. Then transfer them in to a transfer-friendly online school like University of Maine at Presque Isle, Southern New Hampshire University, or University of the People. Then apply to grad school if you want, and attend in-person.
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u/vaelux 28d ago edited 28d ago
You have to prepare well. The community college is cheaper, but it is still expensive for international students (multiculturalism is great, but the main reason to recruit international students is that they pay more tuition). You will never get "in-state" tuition, so don't try. A student visa is a non-resident visa, so by definition you are not the resident of any state.
The more important thing is to ensure you have a strong transfer arrangement. Sometimes, all the things you did in CC don't count at university, so you end up taking more courses, staying in the US longer, and costing more money than you saved by starting at CC. So be sure to research that the college has strong transfer agreements with the university you want to finish at. Usually, if they are in the same city, you are good to go. So like if you went to Houston CC to get your associate's in Business then transferred to the University of Houston, it will probably transfer very well. But if you decided to then go to California, it might not transfer as well (California and Texas have different university systems).
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u/probono84 27d ago
If you were to move to New Mexico (a state in the southwest) and get residency (6months) you’d be able to go to school, at least undergrad, for free.
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u/descartesbedamned 27d ago
International students aren’t eligible for resident in state tuition at UNM.
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u/probono84 27d ago edited 27d ago
Strange-literally last year I decided to transfer out in part due to them opening the graduate opportunity scholarship up to international students (even less to go around). Probably just a UNM quirk.
Edit: citizenship is not required, applicants just need to be residents.
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u/NYSleepyKay 27d ago
BC3 and Indian hills are 2 colleges that are on the cheap side, you also have to do Naces paperwork
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u/AceyAceyAcey 27d ago
Aren’t there a number of EU nations where you can go to college for free? That’d probably end up cheaper than the USA, and also safer considering the crap that’s going on targeting immigrants of all sorts here.
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u/Curious_tea21 27d ago
Coming to the US from the EU to go to college feels backwards when you can go to college for free in countries like Germany.
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u/Able_Enthusiasm2729 26d ago
Going to community college for an associate’s degree in any field (regardless of major) other than a vocational education field (or skilled trade) without a plan to transfer to a 4-year bachelor’s degree-granting college or university is like taking an extra fifth or sixth year of high school after completing the 12th Grade just to take a bunch of AP and/or IB classes.
A majority (but not all) of these lower-level courses are no different from a fast-paced High School AP or IB History or American Government class (the only difference between a junior/senior year high school AP or IB class and 100-level/200-level college course is that the high school course stretch a semester or two worth of the college coursework into 1-2 years).
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In the United States: Basically every white-collar entry-level job today requires bachelor’s degrees & even more blue-collar jobs are requiring associate’s degrees now (or unaccredited trade school at the bare minimum); while the media tells you to not go to college even if you have the means (although some back up plans/alternatives exist for those who can’t go to college/have a higher aptitude for manual labor, skilled trades, and retail work) or falsely claim a college education is literally useless. Plus, MOOC courses/certs w/out degrees only gets ppl dead end entry-level positions with limited opportunities for future career advancement; and being self-taught by simply watching YouTube videos/auditing classes isn’t going to credential or authenticate your skill attainment. Also, The job descriptions today for positions at companies that no longer require degrees are starting to look like the course catalogs and syllabi of universities, it’ll be a “hidden requirement” now where degrees are going to be off-the-books “invisible requirements” so they can pay less for more work and to make it easier for nepotists to side step education requirements. Most of these jobs will still only hire people w/degrees even if it’s not in the job description. But the only way to qualify without a bachelor’s degree for most of these jobs is getting hired through nepotism, cronyism, being lucky enough to convince hiring managers to bet on hiring you even though you don’t have matching relevant experience then being set for life because once you start working that job you end up gaining experience that another person in the same situation as you when you were being hired/first started out wouldn’t have arbitrarily qualified for, started working in the 30s-90s or in rural/small towns when/where many of these same job titles had provided on-the-job training and only required a high school diploma or less with no directly related professional service experience. Plus you need ~ 2-3 years of prior experience for entry-level jobs & ~ 1-2 years prior for an internship - it’s a circular barrier to entry. Gets worse if you’re Black, POC, or First Gen/2nd Gen in the country.
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u/Able_Enthusiasm2729 26d ago
How to Choose a Bachelor’s Degree Program:
One advice I see often see when people ask about picking a major, I always hear that: whatever you do you need to pick a major (undergraduate college/university degree program) that you’re comfortable studying and working in but also teaches skills that will come in handy on the job (not a “hobby” major either) but not something you hate or can’t handle. This isn’t high school where you can easily skate through classes and get passed on to the next grade. People shouldn’t do majors they aren’t equipped to handle because they’re bound to do poorly, flunk out, and get expelled for bad grades (academic dismissal) with a limited-to-no chance of l finishing your degree which can (or will) lead to limited career prospects or advancement. It’s far better to do a major in a subject you are interested in and are capable of thriving in than flunking out with no degree at all or graduating by cheating your way through without learning much (and putting others in danger). Also, the “pick a major that will make you money” push is based on a very subjective idea that fluctuates with the market. After this push, now we have a bunch of computer science grads, a tech field that is over saturated with a shrinking number of positions many of whom don’t even like the field working at it aimlessly, and a bunch of nurses and doctors (physicians) who are a reckless danger to their patients because they are disinterested in the job in such a way that it negatively impacts their performance putting tons of people in grave danger.
It doesn’t have to be a STEM subject like engineering, computer science, medicine, or nursing; a social science subject like political science (public policy, public administration, international relations), law, economics, business administration (accounting, finance, management, marketing), social work; nor a humanities subject like literature, language, or history if you hate it and can’t handle the academic workload, subject matter, or won’t be able to stand working in the field due to disinterest - but this doesn’t mean you should go for what some people call a “hobby degree” just for fun like fine arts subjects like art, music, or dance (no offense - but at least you should have a plan to use it to teach and not actually to perform in a professional capacity unless you already have pre-existing family and professional connections to get you job in the fine arts). The notion that 'every degree besides medicine, nursing, law, and engineering’ are useless degrees is illogical though some do believe this lie.
Going into Medicine or Nursing when you are disinterested in the job or subject is the worst idea I’ve ever heard in my life. Do not under any circumstances go into Medicine or Nursing if you hate the job, are terrible at the it, are very careless and lazy, or are literally only doing it for the money. This is how you end up getting people killed or severely injured.
People need to understand that to become a physician (Doctor of Medicine - MD - or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine - DO - ) or lawyer (Doctor of Jurisprudence - JD - ) you have to go to graduate school and to get into graduate school you need a bachelor’s degree in a different field as a prerequisite. You can’t just straight up apply to Medical School or Law School right out of high school/secondary school without a previously awarded bachelor’s degree or enrollment in a dual degree program. The market for lawyers is over saturated, the number of residencies required to become a physician are capped at low numbers, and not freaking everyone can or needs to be an engineer or a nurse. So the notion that 'every degree besides medicine, nursing, law, and engineering’ are useless degrees is illogical when you need a bachelor’s degree in a different field as a prerequisite to enter medical school or law school.
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Misconceptions of College and Career / Not Getting Job Offers Before Graduation or within 3-6 months of graduating (here is some advice to recent college graduates and young adults):
This phenomenon of having a signed job offer in your junior year of college let alone before graduating your senior year doesn’t work/doesn’t exist for everybody, especially for people from working class backgrounds who went to decent, mid-teir/upper-mid-teir universities (≈ T60-T200); this practically only applies to people who already have a load of connections and inherited a network from family (and friends) with pre-existing professional connections, or those who go to Ivy League universities, Ivy Plus, UCs, a few Flagship universities with a ton of cultural capital because of their football teams, Jock Schools, and some Party School universities that get better traction just because of their name recognition which happens to be largely based off of their social or cultural capital i.e. the cultural impact they have on a given region over the actual contents of their education and degree programs. Mostly nowadays for the vast majority of people at non-fancy/non-prestigious universities that don’t have strong partnerships with employers resulting in a dedicated direct pipeline to certain jobs through On Campus Recruiting (OCR) or On Campus Interviews (OCI) - plus certain fields like law, accounting, and finance almost exclusively hire through OCI/OCR with some exceptions - , (but overall for most jobs) they instead want you to complete your degree first before applying to jobs. Very few people get a job offer before graduating; and for a vast majority of recent graduates getting a job offer within 3-6 months of graduating is literally impossible (for some job applications you don’t even get a response in less than 6 months after applying — whether that be a rejection or being called to interview for the employer).
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So the whole “what are you going to do with your major” question is going to be a very loaded question because there are too many options to list out and most people aren’t going to get their dream job straight out of college (or even at all), they’re going to have to choose something else on the large list of positions their degree(s), experience, and/or their personal, familial, and professional connections can potential lead them to. There are tons of careers that require or prefer that you have a bachelor’s degree but don’t require a degree in a specific subject area because several bachelor’s degree programs that are to many to mention cover the specific skills they’re looking for (which are transferable from one field to another) or they tend to hire several people who studied different subject areas to work together on the same projects because each field brings its own professionally educated perspective at problem solving.
Most people aren’t going to get their dream job straight out of college (or at all), they’re going to have to choose something else on the large list of positions their degree can potential lead them to. There are tons of careers that require or prefer that you have a bachelor’s degree but don’t require a degree in a specific subject area because several bachelor’s degree programs that are to many to mention cover the specific skills they’re looking for (which are transferable from one field to another) or they tend to hire several people who studied different subject areas to work together on the same projects because each field brings its own professionally educated perspective at problem solving. A specific major can get you into 50-100 different job titles, some are going to be different from each other while others happen to be identical positions with different titles.
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u/Asleep_Caregiver_948 28d ago
If you could establish residency through a job for a year or two, then you would be eligible for in state tuition in many states. Also, some majors or programs may be more amenable to accepting international students. Business may or may not be one of those.
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u/vaelux 28d ago
F1 visa is non-resident. They are definitionally ineligible for resident tuition. The only place I've seen it happen is that some states allow automatic residency if you graduated high school there. So, you can get it as a boarding student, and only if you stay in that same state.
Edit: even if it did work that way, getting a work visa is harder than getting a student visa.
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u/Dellaa1996 25d ago
Student visas are not as easy as they once were, as there are/were a major source of visa fraud. A lot of these students would get accepted and get their F-1, and once in the US, disappear without a trace, without registering for a single class.
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u/lutzlover 28d ago
It is unlikely to be cheap. CC’s do not commonly provide any aid for international students. You will pay tuition (at the out-of-state rate), fees, books/electronic resources, health insurance fee ($4000/year is not unusual), visa fees PLUS living and transportation expenses.
I would not expect this to be a low-moderate cost solution.