Community college vs. college

by Mary Fahnestock-Thomas, Hamilton

I’ve seen at least two recent letters in local papers saying basically, “I didn’t go to college and am doing fine, so why should I vote for a levy that would help other people go?” Let’s see if we’re all talking about the same thing. Countries differ, but here’s what these terms mean in the US:

1) college (or university) = 4+-year educational institutions for people with their high school diplomas who want to get a Bachelor’s Degree and either teach or go on to graduate school to become scientists, doctors, lawyers, professors, etc. There are private and state schools, the former usually more expensive than the latter, and students often come from all over the country and the world and live on-campus. The University of Montana and Montana State are state-supported 4-year schools; Carroll College in Helena is a private school, as are Harvard, Yale, Mount Holyoke, and Stanford, for example.

2) technical college and vocational college = 2-year schools requiring a high school diploma and enabling usually young people to train for technical and particularly skilled jobs on a flexible schedule and acquire an Associate’s Degree or a certificate or diploma showing their achievement. They tend to be smaller and less expensive than 4-year colleges and students mostly don’t live there.

3) community college = 2-year schools requiring a high school diploma that sort of combine the two kinds of institutions above; that is, on a flexible schedule you can take courses to prepare you to go on to a 4-year school if you want, or you can train and get certified as a welder, a truck-driver, an oral hygienist, a secretary, or maybe a solar technician. A community college is a great place for people of all ages to pursue new interests or old among like-minded people. It’s an inexpensive and flexible way for young people to discover just what they are interested in and good at and prepare concretely for jobs, and in this changing culture, it can be a great place for older people to retrain or just learn about things in new ways.

The present Bitterroot College is under the auspices of the University of Montana, which therefore gets most of the money and determines the offerings. Missoula and the Bitterroot Valley are pretty different places, however, and UM is not terribly interested in a lot of subjects and pursuits that we are. If the levy for the Bitterroot Valley Community College passes, our own community will benefit from the money and will determine what kind of courses are offered. If the levy doesn’t pass, I think the whole thing folds, because our community won’t have the money to keep anything going and MU is ready to focus its money on things it’s really interested in.

4) a mill (or mil) = 1/10th of a US cent or 1/1000th of a US dollar. (No, it does not mean “million,” which sounded scary to me.) If we pass the levy, we are agreeing to pay $13.16 per year ($1.10 per month) for every $100,000 worth of taxable property we own. Seems to me like a pretty good deal since it will provide greater and cheaper educational and vocational opportunities for local adults and teens and jobs for teachers and staff, not to mention save a lot of gas for those who would otherwise have to drive regularly at least as far as Missoula.

All Ravalli County voters will be receiving a mail-in ballot due in at the latest on May 3rd. For our community as a whole, please vote for the levy. And then start thinking about what courses you want BVCC to offer. All Ravalli County voters will be receiving a mail-in ballot due in at the latest on May 3rd. For our community as a whole, please vote for the levy. And then start thinking about what courses you want BVCC to offer.