Consult your high school counselor regarding local community colleges if you are still in school. A counselor should be able to provide you with valuable insight as to which community colleges are the best to meet your career and vocational goals. Create a list of these schools and visit their websites. If you can avoid moving or limit your move, the transition to college will be simpler.
Determine additional locations to which you will be willing to relocate to go to school. Consult the University of Texas at Austin website, which has a listing of all community colleges by state (see Resources). This list includes both rural and urban schools and will simplify your search process considerably. Click on each school's link to open the school's main website in a new window.
Search for schools by the academic program you intend to pursue. This will quickly let you know which schools have the right academic programs to meet your needs. There are a couple of different ways go about searching for these degree programs. First, you can consult the website of your state's board of regents for higher education. Second, some states, such as Oklahoma, maintain a website that provides would-be students with an option to search for schools by academic degree programs.
Locate schools that are the two-year extension campuses of major universities. These schools can provide you with additional class options at the school's main campus. They also may have an agreement allowing students of the two-year campus to automatically enroll for a four-year degree program once they have finished their two-year degree.