Community college, college university USA

Question 1:
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A community college in the USA usually offers programs for the first two years of university study (freshman and sophomore years). Qualifications granted by a community college include the associate degree (most commonly the Associate of Arts degree, the Associate of Science degree, and the Associate of Applied Science degree), the vocational certificate, and so forth. With an associate degree from a community college, a student can transfer for direct admission into the third year (junior year) of study in a 4-year university.

In the United States, the term "college" is loosely used to refer to tertiary level educational institutions of any type. The word "college" can appear in the title of a vocational school (e.g. Florida Career College, http://floridacareercolleges.com), a 2-year community college (e.g. Miami Dade College, www.mdc.edu), a 4-year university (e.g. Eckerd College, www.eckerd.edu), or a major comprehensive university (e.g. Dartmouth College, www.dartmouth.edu). The distinction between the terms "college" and "university" by the American public is minimal or negligible and is not as serious as that made by the general public in Hong Kong.



Question 2:
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No, usually you do not save time by transferring from a community college. It will take you two years to complete the associate degree program at a community college and another two years to complete the bachelor's degree program at a 4-year university. However, it may be easier to obtain a bachelor's degree from a famous university by this route. For instance, it may be quite competitive for a Hong Kong student to gain direct admission into the freshman year (first year in university) at the world-famous UCLA, but may be much easier to transfer into the junior (third) year after completion of an associate degree at a local community college (e.g. Santa Monica College www.smc.edu).