19岁的史蒂文•雷瓦丹内拉（Steven Rivadeneira）决定去迈阿密（Miami）一所两年制社区学院上学，他的父母感到有些疑虑，因为雷瓦丹内拉在中学期间很喜欢物理，有很多课程成绩都是A。为什么不去最好的四年制工程学院就读呢？

但是雷瓦丹内拉的总成绩不够高。迈阿密的两年制社区学院戴德学院（Dade College）并不在他父母考虑的学校名单上，但这个学校为他提供奖学金，他还可以进入学校的优等生项目学习。雷瓦丹内拉发现了其中的机会，为此向父母保证他今后可以转学进入一所著名大学。

雷瓦丹内拉说，“我认为这是一个很好的机会，有助于今后申请我梦想已久的麻省理工学院（ Massachusetts Institute of Technology）。

事实的确如此，两年后这位美国秘鲁裔学生获得奖学金进入麻省理工学院就读，奖学金基本上可以支付每年59,000 美元的学费、住房和伙食费。他出生在秘鲁的利马（Lima），6岁时移居美国，今后希望成为航天工程师。他的家人仍在秘鲁，他们从来没有听说过有社区学院，现在对他的选择感到很高兴。

社区学院是美国的独创，按照学院的规模和质量，全美有1,100 所社区学院排名最高，迈阿密戴德学院就是其中之一。戴德学院有50,000 名拉美裔学生。得克萨斯州（Texas）的休士顿社区学院（Houston Community College）和加利福尼亚州（California）的圣莫尼卡学院（Santa Monica College ）接收的外国学生最多，其中很多来自墨西哥、巴西、委内瑞拉和哥伦比亚。

全美共有800万学生在两年制社区学院就读，其中45%美国本科生，88,000 名外国学生。进入社区学院无须参加入学考试或获得高分，毕业时可获得副学士证书。这类学院开设学术和职业训练的混合课程，也为准备修大学课程的学生提供密集英语课程 和补修课。社区学院的文化与四年制大学相类似。

社区学院的学费低于四年制大学：一学期平均学杂费为3,130美元，四年制大学需8,660美元。(外州和外国学生需缴纳二至三倍的学费。)

如果某四年制大学接受社区学院的学分，社区学院的学生可以将学分转入四年制大学。

休士顿社区学院理事伊娃•罗雷多（Eva Loredo）说，两年制社区学院可为学生提供四年制大学可能不具备的 条件。”我们有辅导项目，我们有后援团体和小班教学，我们提供英语作为第二语言的课程。”

通过 EducationUSA可以随时了解有关留学美国的信息 ，也可以浏览ShareAmerica 的留学美国栏目查看详情。

本文根据克里斯托弗•康奈尔（Christopher Connell ）的文章改写。

When Steven Rivadeneira, 19, announced he was going to a two-year community college in Miami instead of a university, his parents were skeptical. Their son had piled up A’s in physics after falling in love with the subject during secondary school. Why shouldn’t he should go to an elite, four-year engineering school?

But Rivadeneira’s overall grades just weren’t good enough. Miami Dade College, a two-year community college, while not on his parents’ list, offered a scholarship and a spot in its honors program. Rivandeneira saw opportunity in the offer and assured his parents he could transfer from there to a top university later.

“I saw this as a great chance at applying to my dream school, which was Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT],” Rivadeneira said.

Indeed, the Peruvian American started classes at MIT two years later as a junior, with scholarships covering nearly all the $59,000 per year in tuition, room and board. The aspiring aeronautical engineer, born in Lima, Peru, had moved to the U.S. at age 6. His family members in Peru, who had never heard of community colleges, now “are ecstatic,” he said.

Miami Dade is among the biggest and best of 1,100 community colleges, a uniquely American invention. Miami Dade enrolls 50,000 Hispanic-American students. Houston Community College in Texas and Santa Monica College in California are top destinations for international students, with large representations from Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia.

Overall, 8 million students — 45 percent of U.S. undergraduates — including 88,000international students, attend these two-year colleges, which do not require entrance exams or high grades for entry and which award graduates an associate degree. They offer a mix of academic and job-training classes as well as intensive English and remedial courses for students unprepared for college-level work. Community colleges share a similar culture to their four-year counterparts.

And they charge less than four-year public colleges: $3,130 on average for tuition and fees per academic year versus $8,660. (Out-of-state and international students pay two to three times higher tuition.)

That is a bargain, especially if students succeed in transferring to a university that counts community college credits just like its own.

Eva Loredo, a trustee of Houston Community College, said two-year colleges offer a welcome students may not find at a four-year campus: “We have tutoring, we have support groups and smaller classes, we offer English as a second language.”

Keep up with information about U.S. study at EducationUSA and learn more with other ShareAmerica stories on study in the USA.

This is adapted from an article by freelance writer Christopher Connell.