This post was sponsored by Virginia’s G3 Funding as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.
Continuing your education at any point in life is always a great choice. Furthering your learning helps you to make career changes, increase your income, and potentially start doing work in a field that you love.
However, going back to college later in life can be tricky due to getting married, starting a family, and having to maintain your current job. Thankfully, attending a community college can be a great alternative to a university.
For those of you in Virginia, I wanted to share with you today some of the benefits of attending one of Virginia’s 23 Community Colleges.
Your tuition will be lower than if you go to a university
Community colleges charge cheaper tuition than universities. Even if they don’t have the degree program that you want, I still recommend doing your core classes at a community college and then transferring to a university later to save some costs.
Plus, Virginia residents who are eligible for state aid can potentially take advantage of G3 tuition assistance.
G3 tuition assistance is available at all of Virginia’s Community Colleges and is a “last dollar” program that covers the remaining balance of eligible students’ tuition costs after state and federal aid is used, which brings tuition down to $0. Furthermore, students who are really in need may qualify for additional money that can be used for books and other fees such as transportation and childcare.
To qualify for G3 tuition assistance, you must be a Virginia resident and have a family income that doesn’t exceed $100,000. Additionally, it can only be used for training and educational programs in the following in-demand industries in Virginia:
- Healthcare
- IT
- Early Childhood Education
- Skilled Trades
- Public Safety
If you’ve already been considering starting a career in one of those fields, I highly recommend applying because higher education in these in-demand fields has never been more affordable in Virginia.
With G3 tuition assistance, you can “Get a skill, get a job, and get ahead”.
You can enroll and start classes at any time
All 23 of Virginia’s Community Colleges offer rolling admissions so you can start your education anytime, as well as traditional fall and spring semesters if you’re looking to plan.
Even if you’ve missed the first days of classes, you can still enroll in your program and get started right away.
That’s right, unlike with universities, at one of Virginia’s Community Colleges you can enroll when the timing is right for you and start without having to wait for a new semester to begin.
You have more flexibility
Virginia’s Community Colleges can fit into anyone’s schedule. As noted above, you can decide when you want to enroll, but you also have more flexibility than at a traditional university.
Thanks to being able to take night and weekend classes, you can fit school in when it’s the best time for you without disrupting your current work or childcare schedule.
The classes are smaller than university classes
Community college classes are usually a fraction of the size of basic university classes, which means you can get more one-on-one support from professors if you need it.
The smaller class sizes allow you to be more engaged during lessons and experience greater success in school overall.
There has never been a better time to attend one of Virginia’s Community Colleges!
Attending one of Virginia’s Community Colleges is perfect for students who don’t want to be buried under student loans, don’t have a desire for campus life, and are interested in one of their limited course selections.
If you qualify for state aid there’s a good chance that you’ll be eligible for G3 tuition assistance, which can bring your balance down to $0.
Did you attend community college? What benefits of attending a community college did you experience?

It sounds like there are some real benefits behind going to community college both with what you learn and from outside of it as well.
My son is looking into attending a community college soon. I’m anxious but excited for him.
This sound so amazing! Specially about the tuition fee this is so great I’m surely going to check this out
A couple of my kids went to a community college, and it worked out great for them! One of them is now a doctor, and he would recommend community college to anyone. It is a great way to save money while getting a good education.
I never attended community college but I think it’s a great option with costs being so high.
For those that want to start college while living in Virginia I can’t see why not with what is afforded to them. Such a great article and I love the way you mapped out all the reasons why to do so.
My nephew is enjoying community college because he didn’t like the huge class sizes at the university.
This is such a great post! I actually haven’t gone to college yet but I would definitely consider a community college because there are a lot of benefits!
I attended a community college and liked that i could live at home. These are also good reasons.
All 3 of my children started community college while in high school. It saved us a ton of money on them getting their core out of the way!