A growing number of college students and aspiring career professionals are turning to community colleges to fulfill their higher education needs. Students are opting to earn their degree and advance their education by enrolling in community colleges for a variety of reasons. For starters, many community colleges offer curriculum and training on par with that offered at traditional 4-year education institutions. It costs less to attend a community college than a traditional 4-year college or university. Community colleges are also typically more accessible than larger universities–making it easier for students to attend class on campus or online. Finally, community colleges today are more career oriented than universities – equipping students with relevant, occupational skill sets that prepare them for the job market.
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Below are some of the top community colleges in the nation based on a number of criteria. To learn more about any of the colleges listed on this page simply click on the college of interest in the left hand column. To learn more about education opportunities in your area we suggest visiting our community colleges section.
| Rank | Institution |
Active & Collaborative Learning |
Student Effort |
Academic Challenge |
Student-faculty Interaction |
Support for Learning |
Four-year Graduation Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Saint Paul College (MN)
|
83.2 | 72.2 | 63.7 | 71.0 | 71.8 | 41% |
| 2 |
 Hesston College (KS)
|
65.3 | 52.8 | 65.3 | 63.0 | 65.4 | 63% |
| 3 |
 Carolinas College of Health Sciences (NC)
|
54.0 | 52.8 | 66.7 | 61.2 | 64.1 | 61% |
| 4 |
 Mayland Community College (NC)
|
57.8 | 54.3 | 54.3 | 59.0 | 60.2 | 71% |
| 5 |
 Itasca Community College (MN)
|
66.8 | 58.8 | 57.8 | 60.3 | 58.7 | 38% |
| 6 |
 Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College
|
60.4 | 53.2 | 58.2 | 57.9 | 52.6 | 57% |
| 7 |
 Leech Lake Tribal College (MN)
|
69.3 | 51.8 | 53.3 | 65.1 | 55.6 | 38% |
| 8 |
 Alexandria Technical College (MN)
|
60.8 | 52.8 | 55.4 | 57.7 | 52.3 | 57% |
| 9 |
 Southwestern Community College (NC)
|
57.1 | 56.6 | 54.0 | 61.3 | 59.3 | 54% |
| 10 |
 Chippewa Valley Technical College (WI)
|
55.9 | 49.1 | 54.2 | 55.1 | 44.7 | 75% |
| 11 |
 Washington County Community College District (ME)
|
58.8 | 55.2 | 51.6 | 58.2 | 54.9 | 53% |
| 12 |
 Georgia Military College Milledgeville
|
54.4 | 55.3 | 51.9 | 53.0 | 58.3 | 62% |
| 13 |
 Umpqua Community College (OR)
|
63.7 | 59.4 | 65.0 | 61.7 | 49.8 | 21% |
| 14 |
 Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College (VA)
|
58.8 | 54.7 | 59.7 | 58.5 | 57.5 | 37% |
| 15 |
 Western Wyoming Community College
|
53.3 | 52.1 | 49.8 | 55.9 | 52.8 | 67% |
| 16 |
 New Mexico State University, Grants
|
59.0 | 56.0 | 55.7 | 61.4 | 57.8 | 35% |
| 17 |
 Tacoma Community College (WA)
|
54.3 | 53.0 | 53.0 | 49.9 | 50.8 | 63% |
| 18 |
 Hazard Community and Technical College (KY)
|
57.3 | 59.7 | 60.5 | 62.3 | 59.9 | 23% |
| 19 |
 Skagit Valley College (WA)
|
58.3 | 53.0 | 53.7 | 56.6 | 52.1 | 45% |
| 20 |
 Alabama Southern Community College
|
53.4 | 60.2 | 51.6 | 55.9 | 56.3 | 47% |
| 21 |
 Rowan-Cabarrus Community College (NC)
|
49.7 | 47.5 | 46.7 | 48.2 | 48.1 | 83% |
| 22 |
 North Country Community College (NY)
|
50.9 | 54.3 | 53.5 | 57.6 | 49.5 | 57% |
| 23 |
 North Central Missouri College
|
56.8 | 58.0 | 51.4 | 56.1 | 53.8 | 43% |
| 24 |
 Hawaii Community College
|
62.6 | 53.1 | 58.2 | 57.1 | 56.3 | 24% |
| 25 |
 Halifax Community College (NC)
|
54.0 | 60.6 | 57.2 | 58.4 | 60.4 | 31% |
| 26 | Florida Gateway College (FL) | 53.3 | 53.4 | 54.8 | 56.2 | 53.9 | 48% |
| 27 | Frank Phillips College (TX) | 57.2 | 50.9 | 48.8 | 55.5 | 52.3 | 51% |
| 28 | Texas State Technical College, West Texas (TX) | 58.9 | 55.3 | 55.3 | 59.7 | 56.4 | 29% |
| 29 | Green River Community College (WA) | 59.8 | 56.2 | 54.0 | 53.2 | 54.6 | 35% |
| 30 | Minnesota West, Pipestone | 51.5 | 56.9 | 55.7 | 56.4 | 52.3 | 47% |
| 31 | North Florida Community College | 55.5 | 50.3 | 54.4 | 60.8 | 57.9 | 37% |
| 32 | Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College (KY) | 56.6 | 54.9 | 50.9 | 57.3 | 58.4 | 38% |
| 33 | Seward County Community College/Area Technical School (KS) | 50.0 | 51.6 | 48.5 | 50.2 | 57.2 | 63% |
| 34 | West Hills College, NDC (CA) | 60.2 | 56.7 | 53.9 | 52.3 | 62.3 | 26% |
| 35 | Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (NM) | 61.0 | 66.4 | 55.2 | 55.4 | 57.4 | 16% |
| 36 | Morgan Community College (CO) | 54.6 | 53.4 | 51.3 | 56.9 | 56.2 | 43% |
| 37 | MSCTC, Fergus Falls (MN) | 54.8 | 54.9 | 57.8 | 53.9 | 51.2 | 40% |
| 38 | Patrick Henry Community College (VA) | 58.3 | 56.5 | 54.4 | 60.1 | 60.1 | 23% |
| 39 | Lawson State Community College (AL) | 59.1 | 54.0 | 58.1 | 56.3 | 57.6 | 24% |
| 40 | Corning Community College (NY) | 54.7 | 52.2 | 57.0 | 56.8 | 56.0 | 36% |
| 41 | Texas State Technical College, Waco | 50.0 | 40.4 | 43.0 | 49.1 | 51.5 | 82% |
| 42 | Northampton Community College (PA) | 54.7 | 53.7 | 54.3 | 52.9 | 52.1 | 44% |
| 43 | Vermilion Community College (MN) | 56.4 | 53.0 | 53.7 | 59.0 | 55.1 | 34% |
| 44 | Monroe Community College (NY) | 50.6 | 51.4 | 51.4 | 53.2 | 51.1 | 57% |
| 45 | De Anza College (CA) | 52.6 | 50.4 | 52.1 | 46.3 | 47.5 | 61% |
| 46 | Cleveland Community College (NC) | 54.0 | 50.2 | 49.8 | 49.3 | 51.1 | 55% |
| 47 | Maysville Community and Technical College (KY) | 54.5 | 52.8 | 53.0 | 61.1 | 53.7 | 35% |
| 48 | Atlanta Technical College (GA) | 54.3 | 54.4 | 55.2 | 51.8 | 61.8 | 33% |
| 49 | Central Carolina Community College (NC) | 48.2 | 52.8 | 52.9 | 54.9 | 54.1 | 52% |
| 50 | Barton County Community College (KS) | 45.7 | 49.7 | 49.6 | 49.2 | 52.2 | 70% |
Please know that we do not believe that college ranking reports as presented on this website or any other websites should be construed as an absolute indication of quality of education provided by an institution. The best community college for you might not be the best community college for someone else, and vice versa.
Community college rankings provided by Washington Monthly
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