A recent Wall Street Journal opinion article entitled "Community college is the smart choice," by Aaron Rasmussen, suggests: “Community college is the hidden, affordable gem in America’s post-secondary education system. Every prospective college student needs to know it.” Affordability is certainly a key factor since community colleges can provide a pathway to completing a four-year degree with little or no debt and the end result is the same credential as a student who invests more financially with four years at a university.
Elijah received a full-ride scholarship to McLennan Community College and arrived at Texas Tech with excellent experience from the engineering program at McLennan taught by outstanding professors like Dr. April Andreas. Classes were smaller than classes at most universities. Elijah returned to Waco and is working at a local company. While many students like Elijah transfer to universities outside of our area, many complete here in Waco at Texas Tech and Tarleton, where both universities offer excellent scholarships and outstanding instruction in-person and online.
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The University Center at McLennan offers over 60 degrees through Texas Tech University and Tarleton State University. Nurses, respiratory therapists, EMTs, social workers, accountants, teachers and many others in our community began at McLennan and stay in Waco. Community leaders, judges, school administrators and others attended a community college at some point in their careers.
At McLennan, we continue to expand scholarship opportunities such as the 50 percent tuition and free Rising Star Scholarship for McLennan County high students ranked in the top 11 to 20 percent of their graduating class. This new program is similar to the McLennan Scholarship program that pays 100 percent of tuition and fees for the top 10 percent. Scholarships and grants are available and this fall additional grants will be awarded to all students from the federal COVID-19 allocation. Students who begin their college education while in high school will receive a 40 percent reduction tuition and fees and those on free and reduced lunch qualify for free tuition and fees. In May, 75 students graduated from McLennan before receiving their high school diploma. These students continue at the University Center with Texas Tech or Tarleton and many transfer anywhere from the University of Texas to Texas A&M University to Rice University and beyond. The time is now to get started or to restart, and we can help.
Enrolling at community colleges like McLennan Community College is a smart choice — not only due to affordability, but also for the opportunity to explore the right career choices, to receive a quality education with smaller classes and to be guided by talented and caring faculty and staff. I personally made the choice to receive an associate degree from a community college after receiving a bachelor’s and a master’s degree before completing my doctorate. That choice led me to be president of McLennan Community College — something that would not have happened without Paris Junior College.
We at McLennan are here to help every McLennan County resident achieve his or her educational goals in an affordable way. Let’s do this together.
