Local community colleges can be a great way to ease into the university setting, get education for a career change, or just take an interesting class here or there. The Denver area has many great community colleges to choose from.
The Community College of Denver offers 45 different programs to choose from. The college is centrally located, but also offers classes at Lowry and online for select programs. Students are automatically admitted if they are 17 or older, but admittance to certain programs may have specific admission requirements. The tuition for Denver Community College is $173 per credit hour. However, Colorado residents can receive a stipend of $92 a credit hour, so in state residents only pay $81 per credit hour for classes at DCC. DCC also provides many student services to ensure the success of their students. They have a financial aid office to help students figure out how to pay for college, as well as offices for academic support, child care, career development and a library. If you want to see the Denver Community College campus, there is an online tour on their website at http://www.ccd.edu/Campus-Tour.aspx#. You can contact DCC at 303.556.2600.
Aurora Community College has 40 different degree options. There are a wide variety of programs that are aimed at getting people the training they need to do specific jobs such as work in the early childhood field, diesel mechanic training and paramedic training to name just a few. ACC has drop-in advising to help students and prospective students. The schedule for drop-in advising is Mondays through Thursdays, 8-5:30, and Fridays, 8-4:30 at both the CentreTech Campus, 303-360-4797, and the Lowry Campus, Building 903, 303-340-7093. Online advising is available at [email protected]. For services, this community college offers financial aid assistance, a tutoring lab, credit for prior learning and work experience, an open computer lab, on line writing lab and job placement. Aurora Community College holds classes at their Aurora location, at Lowry and at Buckley Air Force Base. The coast at ACC is $115.50 per credit hour. This includes the cost of fees which are not included in the tuition proces of Denver Community College or Front Range Community College, although they do have fees as well.
Front Range Community College has campuses in Westminster, Boulder, Brighton, Larimer and students can go to class on line. FRCC as approximately 70 programs to choose from. They are listed on their website at http://frcc.cc.co.us/FRCCTemplates/FRCC1.aspx?id=846. Front range automatically accepts anyone 17 or older into the college with specific programs having their own requirements. The cost for FRC is the same as DCC at $81 per credit hour for Colorado residents. This college also has services for financial aid, tutoring and career services and services for veterans as well. Each campus for FRCC has a different phone number, but they are listed on the website.
All of these community colleges are eager to help students and want to see their students succeed. They offer a wide variety of programs and all have libraries to support student learning. The websites for all of these colleges list their exact degree programs, course schedules and descriptions and other important information. The best thing you can do is visit the campus and speak to someone in person. You will want to make certain that the people advising you are knowledgeable and friendly and that they are aware of the resources to help you be a successful student, including financial assistance. All of these colleges have also ensured that their programs transfer directly into Colorado four-year colleges and universities.
References:
http://www.ccaurora.edu/
http://frcc.cc.co.us/ProspectiveStudents.aspx
http://www.ccd.edu/
