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Author: SharleeD

Sep 7th 2012 at 12:00:35 PM

Classes being easier at a community college is also a stereotype; competently-run junior colleges keep their courses' rigorousness on par with four-year institutions and universities.  They ''do'' tend to offer more remedial classes and non-degree options such as cooking lessons, mostly for people who've been out of school for years or who just want to pick up a skill without having to graduate.  Thus, they often acquire the image of being less academically-challenging than four-year schools, even if their degree or transfer courses are just as advanced.

The reason this trope exists is that there are a ''lot'' of community colleges in the U.S., many of them deliberately established in places where the population isn't dense enough to sustain a four-year college.  Plenty of young people who'd otherwise have to leave their home city to attend a university can remain in their home town and attend a local junior college, thus allowing them to remain regulars on a family sitcom even after they reach college-going age.