I'm a little surprised that central IL/Peoria area colleges are a topic for discussion in Chicago high schools. Aren't there plenty of community colleges in the

I'm a little surprised that central IL/Peoria area colleges are a topic for discussion in Chicago high schools. Aren't there plenty of community colleges in the Chicago area? ICC is a low-cost community college that primarily issues AS (2-year) degrees. AFAIK they don't have a BS (4-year) program. The people that I've know who've attended used it as a stepping stone to a 4-year degree from another area school such as Bradley because their high school experience didn't adequately prepare them to enter a Bachelor's program (or they lacked confidence or money). It's exactly the kind of place that someone who can't go to Berkeley, MIT, UIUC (or even ISU/WIU/EIU/SIU) should go. Source: Lived in the area for eight years. Had friends who attended and knew instructors through various other activities. To your broader point, I hear that the first year of college is used to compensate for poor high school education. If that's the case, is something like Hacker School really a option for the average high school graduate? Obviously exceptional students could take the self-study route but is that really a option for more than the top 2% or so?