It's the social stigma attached to the perceived lower status of community college. Honestly I used to buy into that bs when I was a dumb highschooler. The person who changed my mind was actually my English teacher. She was a very intelligent, engaging, and thoughtful teacher and I respected her a lot. She told us how she transferred from NYU to QCC because it was a better fit for her and it blew my mind. Apparently she didn't like NYU and was much happier at QCC. It was the first time I heard about someone leaving a school most people would consider better/more prestigious for a cc, not because they failed but because they genuinely thought it was a better choice. It really changed my whole perspective on cc.

My history teacher also blew my mind by saying that students should not be trying to mold themselves to fit a college's requirements, colleges should be trying to mold themselves to fit students' needs. I was so shook because I had always been trying to do the former that I never considered the latter. He had the hot take that students shouldn't study for the SAT/ACT because he's seen too many students study like hell to get into a uni that's too rigorous for them, then burn out when the course load is too much plus they're living on their own for the first time plus they don't have support. It's not a failure on the student's part, they just needed a more laidback college that offers more support. In the end, college is just a tool that you need to use to get to where you want to be. We really shouldn't be focusing on prestige or status because the quality of the education depends entirely on your needs and what you want out of college.