By MONICA AGUILERA

Boba-drinking, Zelda-playing, Horror-watching brown girl from Oaxacalifornia.

Welcome to Community College! Community college is a great option for students who are looking to save money, want to explore different career options, hoping to raise their GPA to transfer, etc. In addition, community colleges offer affordable summer and winter courses that can help you speed up your GE requirements if you already attend a UC or CSU! In California, there are over 116 community colleges you can apply to. 

According to the CCC Chancellor’s office: 

  • Nearly half of students earning a bachelor’s degree from a University of California campus in science, technology, engineering and mathematics transferred from a California community college.
  • Twenty-nine percent of University of California graduates and 51% of California State University graduates started at a community college.
  • Students earning a degree or certificate from a California community college nearly double their earnings within three years.

If these stats are something that you want to be a part of, great, keep following along! 

 How to Apply

  1. The first thing you want to do when applying to community college is visit https://www.cccapply.org/en/apply. This helpful source lets you easily go down the list of 116 community colleges in California.
  2. After selecting the college that interests you the most, (visit our college list if you’re still searching for your just right college), you will be redirected to the college’s personal application.
  3. While every application is different, a majority of applications will consist of:
    • Your Full Name
    • Mailing Address
    • Social Security (SSN)
    • Driver’s License Number
    • High School Transcripts
    • Latest English and Math Classes Completed
  4. After the application is finished, you then complete your FAFSA or Dream Act Application and connect the school you are applying to using their school code.

    If you need support applying for FAFSA, find our guide here 

  5. After finishing your application, your college will most likely request for you to attend orientation, take a math/ english placement test (if you were not able to send in your high school transcripts), and meet with an academic counselor to plan out your courses.
  6. Finally, you start registering for classes and wait for the semester to begin. You are now a college student!

Here are some important dates:  

FAFSA: Opens October 1st- Closes June 30th, 2020

Class Registration: Varies per Campus (check on their personal website)

Other Important Sites to pay for Community College:

CCC Money 

CCC California Promise Grant