VOA标准英语2009年-Recession Bargain-Hunting Spreads to C

（单词翻译）

Ted¹ Landphair 09 December 2009

 
Photo: Pat Hawks², Flickr Creative Commons Share This

There's not exactly a rush of good news across economically stressed America - unless you work at one of our 1,200 community colleges.  For most of them, everything's rosy³.

Once dismissed as lowly junior colleges and commuter⁴ schools in urban areas where students could walk or take public transit⁵ to class, these two-year colleges are attracting tens of thousands of students who would normally enroll⁶ in four-year private or state universities.

This community college shares a campus with a University of Washington branch. By attending two years at Cascadia and finishing with two years at UW, a student would save $21,000

By living at home, they will spend $4,500 a year in tuition, on average. That's half the typical cost at a four-year state school, and a fraction of a private university's $26,000-average annual tuition.  Adding room and food charges and fees at renowned⁷ universities can boost the bill as high as $50,000 a year!

The Washington Post reports that even exceptional students are enrolling⁸ in community schools in record numbers. Community colleges' honors programs, usually half-empty, have, in the Post's words, exploded.  There's often a waiting list.

Recently, too, President Obama directed more than $12 billion in federal stimulus⁹ money to community colleges for programs in which older workers train students in practical job skills.  And just last week, the foundation backed by Microsoft founder¹⁰ Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, pledged another $13 million to upgrade technology at selected community schools.

What college library can match Yale University's? Of course, Yale's tuition, food, and room fees top $46,000 a year. Staying home in New Haven¹¹, Connecticut, and attending Gateway¹² Community College, you'd pay 94 percent less: $2,600

The New York Times reports that the clamor to get into community colleges has grown so strong that many have had to plow¹³ new, auxiliary¹⁴ parking lots; rent extra classroom space; and offer night classes running as late as 2:30 in the morning, just to fit everyone in.

They aren't Harvard, but again, $4,500 tuition is less than one-tenth of the total cost of an Ivy¹⁵ League school.