Hey! I made a bunch of Python notes a bit ago and decided to share them. They're really beginner friendly, and include a bunch of external sources that I used and continue using at the end. Hope this helps someone!
I've found that it is incredibly hard vetting through all the choices of colleges out there in US, figuring out what all the technical terms are and deciding what's the best choice for you personally. I don't know everything, but let me explain as much as I can though. First things first...
Definitions & Basic Explanations:
Accreditation: Accreditation is the recognition from a private accrediting agency that an institution maintains a certain level of educational standards
To go to an accredited college means that you get access to federal financial aid, you get the ability to transfer credits, and-most importantly-means that you'll able to get a degree that is recognized in whatever field you're going into.
There are 3 different accreditations available:
National
Regional
Specialized
Nationally Accredited: roughly 15% of colleges are nationally accredited. Colleges that under this accreditation are usually trade or vocational schools, and are mostly for-profit.
Regionally Accredited(src): This accreditation is considered the more prestigious option. The US is divided by 7 different geographically based companies (with an extra 4 that focus on vocational/comm schools as well). Most non-profit schools will be regionally accredited.
Specialized Accreditation(src1)(src2): while national and regional accreditation covers institutions as a whole, specialized accreditation covers certain professional schools and individual educational programs.
(accreditation database)
While there are other types of colleges that I won't be defining, there are three that I'd like to mention;
Community colleges
Public colleges
Private colleges
Community College: this type is usually thought of as a two-year college, offering considerably cheaper tuition rates comparably. Usually offers associate degrees and vocational certifications, but currently there are 22 states that allow community colleges to offer 4 year undergraduate programs(src).
Public College: This is a 4-year university that is funded through the government instead of tuition costs. Usually costs less than private college, but still offers a wide networking community and a lot of student resources.
Private College: This is a 4-year university as well, but it is funded through tuition, donations, and other resources besides government funding. This tends to be the highest costing of the three options, and it's harder to get federal scholarships/grants. It does still offer networking communities though a long with a ton of student resources.
(src)
There is also one last distinction you should look at when applying for colleges, and that is non-profit/profit schools.
Non-profit: This applies to a college that does not have any shareholders to pay back investments. All of the money that these types of schools are paid, goes directly back into funding the college.
For-profit: This term applies to schools that have investors and shareholders to pay money to outside of the college. These schools usually have higher acceptance rates, higher tuition rates, and are usually trying to rake up as much money as they can no matter the detriment to their students.
(src)
Throughout this post I've included a bunch of related links to get you started in looking for the right college for you, so I was going to make a second part, but I've also realized in terms of on-campus tips I have none for anyone (I've done exclusively online). So without further ado, good luck!
