Community College Education? It’s Worthy in Yakima!

Did you attend a community college? Were you able to use your education to get a good job? Thousands of people in the Yakima Valley can answer yes to that question. In an effort to build up the value of community colleges Yakima Valley College has announced it's joining a month-long grassroots education and "stigma-busting" campaign coordinated by the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT).

The goals include busting stigmas that are simply wrong

YVC officials say the goals are to improve awareness of the economic, academic and equity advantages of attending community colleges, and to bust longtime stigmas wrongly associated with public two-year colleges.
YVC officials say public community colleges like YVC are, according to a news release "a uniquely American educational model that was designed to guarantee access to affordable, high-quality higher education for all people. They are the primary educators of life-saving nursing and other healthcare professionals among many others. They also serve as an on-ramp to bachelor’s, master’s and higher-level degrees for many students, and particularly for demographically and socioeconomically diverse communities."

Do you believe universities are more worthy than community colleges?

School officials say many people wrongly believe that community colleges are inferior institutions, and in most states, universities receive significantly more per-student state support than community colleges do. It's the reason for the campaign to  to improve awareness of the economic, academic and equity advantages of attending community colleges. "At YVC 84% of the study body are the first in their family to attend college, while 73% are from low-income households and 83%  receive grants, scholarships or other types of aid."