As a current college student, I can tell you from experience, JC and university classes are pretty much the same quality these days, the teachers, or teachers aides is where the difference now lies. I have attended 2 universities and 2 junior colleges (for technical degrees unavailable at universities nearby, not because I'm a dummy that can't handle university classes) and I feel like I received much more attention from the JC teachers than I did the university teachers. One of the big dangers for students, when it comes to a successful university education, is that many of the teachers at the big and/or popular universities are there with their own agenda. A surprising amount of the teachers are there for research purposes, and happen to also be required to teach a class or 2 as part of their contracts. Those teachers typically couldn't give less of a shit about your success or failure in their classes, and many give half-assed presentations or seem like teaching the class is as painful for them as having teeth pulled out. Another issue I encountered at the 2 universities was that classes were being taught by teachers aides, and the assignments were being graded by teachers aides, while the actual teacher is never introduced to the class and is probably too busy with the aforementioned research projects. After spending many thousands of dollars in tuition, how awesome! :shakinghead:
Considering where my buddies that stuck with their university degrees are now, and how much they paid for their education, I feel my associates degree in product development and manufacturing from one of my local junior colleges will probably pan out about as well for me as their university degrees will for them, and for literally 1/5th the cost. Times have changed. My old man used to be the kind that insisted I go to a university, but when he saw what I was having to deal with, and that half of my classes weren't even being taught by a real teacher, he said forget it, if junior college is what you want, have at it. I took a chance, and so far I am loving the teachers at my current JC. They are highly intelligent and super helpful individuals. Also, they actually give a fuck if we succeed or not. Surprise surprise!