A community college is a two year program to earn an Associates Degree; public vs private are established by state funding. Normally a private institution will be greater in cost than a public one. A four year institution offers a Bachelor’s degree and higher depending on its accreditation. For your purposes you need to check the curriculum offered at any of these choices to determine if your subject area is given. Not all schools offer the same program and at the same caliber. Make sure you speak to an admissions officer and someone from the department you are interested in.

A community college is usually a local college where the highest degree that can be attained is a two year Associates degree. A public college is a state or city run college that gives it’s students a 4 year bachelors degree. A private college is the same as a public college except the tuition is markedly higher than a community and public college.

I dont know the colleges in Toronto, sorry .

Community colleges are public colleges. They usually focus on 2 year programs which provide vocational training programs and training in the trades.

Public Universities are taxpayer subsidized colleges with 4 year college degree programs. They usually offer at least some graduate (master’s level) degrees as well as programs in education licensure. Some offer post-graduate (Phd) and/or professional (Law and Medicine) degrees.

Private Universities are privately funded and do not normally recieve taxpayer funds, though they may recieve government research grants for specific projects. Students are expected to pay the costs of running the institution through tuition and fees. Most Private Universities have programs similar to that at public universities. Other private colleges may have a specific focus such as art schools, career schools, and seminaries.

aquamarie213 is incorrect in stating that “any major university” would be regarded as public. The Ivy leagues (Harvard, Yale , Princeton, The College of William and Mary, etc.) are all private Universities.

One of the posts mentioned accreditation… public colleges must be accredited (it’s like a minimum education-quality standard – also am assuming Canada is similar to the US), otherwise they’ll lose public funding, which can cause schools to literally close. Private schools may or may not be accredited… meaning if you take classes at a non-accredited school, it’s likely those credits *will not* be recognized at an accredited school (no transferring credits). Whichever school you choose, if you’re seeking an academic degree, make sure the school is accredited.

A lot of folks choose to take their “core” requirement classes (English, math, history, etc.) at a community college, where it’s cheaper per credit hour and then transferring over to an university to take all of the upper-level classes for their 4-yr degree.

The bottom line, unless you’re looking for a “name-dropping” school, it doesn’t matter if you go to a junior college and then university, or only to an university for your bachelor’s. When you graduate, the diploma will still say the name of the school you graduated from… not all the ones you’ve attended. 🙂

Good luck!

Community college, also known as junior college, is usually where one will go to get their Associate degree. Typically these schools are less expensive and not quite as prestigous as a university.

A public college can include community college or any major university. It’s kinda like going to public school vs. private school in high school.

For example a public University would include Colorado University and a private would be Harvard.

Private schools are usually more expensive, accredited, and extremely prestigous. However, public universities may also be accredited as well.

It just depends on what you’re looking for. I started off at a community college with my AA then went to a major University for my B.S.

If you’re looking for a school I would suggest you find the schools in the geographic location you’re interested in attending and then research their programs and what the school has to offer. The traditional college experience isn’t for everyone.

1. private colleges cost more. 2. community college is used by people with limited funds or on public assistance, paid for by taxpayers, also known as a “free ride”. 3. yes if you are from that community, which you get a break on the tuition because you already pay real estate taxes for it.

If i were you, i’d probably go to a public college. Don’t waste your money on private colleges.

Community is cheap

Public is cheap

Private is very expensive