WHAT'S NEXT: Dalton Hitchcock on Transfer Degrees
By Emily Franks on Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Age: 19 | Hometown: Manila | Graduation year: 2020 | Currently attending: Arkansas Northeastern College | Working toward: Associate of Science in Agricultural Business | Transferring to Arkansas State University | End goal: Earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture Business
Dalton Hitchcock first became interested in agriculture while growing up around farming. It wasn’t long before he realized his dream of pursuing agricultural business. He began to think about the necessary schooling to make his dream a reality, and he knew that he would need a bachelor’s degree to have the career he wanted.
Dalton enrolled at Arkansas Northeastern College to earn his Associate of Science in Agricultural Business, and he plans to transfer to Arkansas State University in Jonesboro after graduation to pursue his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Business. Dalton says that some of his favorite experiences at Arkansas Northeastern College have been in the physical science lab learning how to work with strangers to complete an assignment, a skill that will help him in his future career.
He says that future agricultural business students might be surprised by how transferable the skills they learn in the classroom will be to their success in the field.
“I love agriculture because of the people I am around and learning about crops. I love to work in the outdoors learning about the different types of crops and what to do to improve crop yields. I plan on helping the farmers by giving them advice on how to raise their yields and make relationships with them.”
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
It’s much cheaper to take your basics at a two-year college. The average annual cost of a public two-year college is $3,440, while the average for a public four-year university is $9,410.*
While four-year schools have GPA and other academic requirements, many community colleges have no entrance requirements or only require a high school diploma/GED.
Before enrolling at a two-year college, make sure the credits you’ll earn will count toward your degree at the four-year college you want to attend.
Two-year colleges don't typically offer on-campus housing, but once you transfer to a four-year school, there will be housing amenities.
Community colleges are a great place for students to bring up a low GPA. Using this stronger GPA, students can transfer to a four-year college they may not have been accepted to had they applied immediately after high school.
"I love agriculture because of the people I am around and learning about crops."