American society values higher education, which explains why the United States has so many colleges and universities—more than 4,400. College is the primary way in which people can improve their lives. What you earn in the future will depend on what you learn now. As Figure 1.1 shows, the more education you have, the more likely you are to be employed and the higher your earnings will be.

In most countries today, receiving a college degree gives you the opportunity to achieve your goals and dreams regardless of your background, race, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status, family income level, family history, or personal connections. Two-year colleges, in particular, play an important role in providing diverse students with educational opportunities because they accept all students regardless of their past academic performance and help them achieve success. In addition, students can get a great education at a much lower cost than at a four-year college or university.

College is also important because it prepares citizens for leadership roles. Without a college degree, you would find it difficult to be a leader in your community, company, profession, or military unit.

In addition to increasing your earning power, college is about helping you become a better thinker—someone who doesn’t believe everything he or she hears or reads but instead looks for evidence before forming an opinion. Developing such thinking skills will give you the ability to make sound decisions throughout your life.

Although college is often thought of as a time when high school students become young adults, we realize that many two-year college students are already adults, some with families of their own. Whatever your age, college can be a time when you

It’s OK to experiment in college, within limits, because that’s what college is designed for.

College will provide you with numerous opportunities for developing a variety of social networks, both in person and online. These networks will help you make friends with instructors and fellow students who share your interests and goals. Social media (such as Facebook and Twitter) provide ways to expand your social networks in college; most colleges and on-campus organizations have their own Facebook pages where students share different kinds of information.

College definitely can and should be enjoyable, and we hope it will be for you. College provides the chance to

Getting involved in campus life improves your college experience and your chances for a good job, so make sure to take advantage of student activities on your campus. For example, some clubs are related to professions; an education club may include students who plan to become teachers, or a business club may give students an opportunity to learn more about companies in their area and to interact with business professionals and leaders.

In addition to being a pleasant experience, college is a lot of work. Being a college student means spending hours studying each week, staying up late at night or getting up early in the morning to study, taking exams, and possibly working harder than you ever have. For many students, college becomes like a job with defined duties, expectations, and obligations. If you already have a job, this will be your second one.

Most important, college will be a set of experiences that will help you to further define and achieve your own goals. You might feel that you know exactly what you want to do with your life—where you want to go from here. Or, like many students, you might be struggling to find where you fit in life and work. It is possible that as you discover more about yourself and your abilities, your purpose for coming to college will change. In fact, a majority of college students change their plans at least once during the college years, and some students find they need to transfer to another college or university to meet their academic goals.

Here are some additional questions to ask yourself as you continue thinking about why you’re at your two-year college: