How Starting College This Way Can Slash Almost 80% Off Cost— A Path to Affordable Education

A non-traditional path to traditional education. In short, skipping a few AP classes and attending community college helps a lot.

Paying for college is a serious undertaking for most people.

Today, we’re going to talk about how attending college early, in conjunction with going to a local community college, can reduce total cost of getting an undergraduate degree by at least 40%. 💰

I also go through my personal experience of reducing college costs by almost 80%.

If you’re a parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt, rising student yourself, or just curious, this article may provide some insight into alternative ways to pay for college.

Why is this important to consider?

• Taking out student loans for all four years can be costly down the road, especially with interest rates right now. ❌
• Wages are not keeping up with inflation. This is concerning because graduates now face higher cost of living and lower salaries than the generations preceding them. A large tuition bill compounds the issue. ❌
• Graduating college with higher debt than necessary can be burdensome when starting career and life after college. ❌
• Let’s be real, not everyone can get a scholarship to pay for college, most are responsible for paying the full cost. ❌

Then what are the options if you are trying to pay for college? Or if you’re not sure about college? Let’s go through some ideas. 💡

Ways to Get College Credit Early

One way high school kids can get college credit early is by taking an AP class and then passing an AP exam.

• Regardless of potential credit, AP classes make you more competitive for college applications. ✅
• If you’re fortunate to get credits, it becomes easier to do great things like have a double major or graduate college early. ✅

My parents told me upfront they couldn’t pay for college. I never expected them to, I had three other siblings near my age. Subsidizing our schooling would’ve wiped them out.

To make matters worse, we lost our home during the subprime mortgage crisis when I was 16.

Because of my circumstances, I was anxious about having any sort of debt at a young age.

Feeling backed into a corner, I decided to take classes at the local community college through a “dual enrollment program”. This basically allows students aged 16 and up to take entry level college courses while attending high school.

Community college, also referred to as “junior college”, is a non-residential college offering courses to people living in a particular area.

Students who attend junior college first but plan on finishing a bachelor’s degree afterwards, will typically transfer completed credits over to a four-year institution.

I did this and it changed my life forever.

Question corner:

Did you have any obstacles to figure out when thinking about college? What did you do? Would love to hear about it.

Pros of Going to Community College First

There are benefits to this approach:

• The junior college is usually within driving distance. ✅
• The cost is much lower than a 4 year college course. I paid $200 per 3 credit course back in 2006. ✅
• Time commitment is lower than AP classes. The classes are about an hour long, and only for a few days out of the week. ✅
• It is a flexible arrangement. The experience helped me practice independence. If I missed a class, I wouldn’t get written up, but it was also my responsibility to make sure I was on top of my studies. ✅

Not convinced? Let’s look at more perks of community college instead of AP or going direct to four year university:

• As long as you get a C or above, the course credits are transferable to a four year college, guaranteed. ✅
• The grades don’t transfer to the four year university you get accepted into (“acceptance” is important, as there are still minimum GPAs to transfer to certain four year universities). This means you start with a fresh gpa at the new school. ✅
• For high schoolers, no more spending 2 hours per night finishing endless assignments and studying for pop quizzes, only to be at the mercy of AP exam results for credit. ✅

But what’s the catch?

Like most things in life, there are downsides.

Let’s go through a few.

Cons of Going to Community College First

• You can miss out on important early friendship-building years even after transferring. The first few years of university is where many people meet their lifelong friends. But with effort, such as joining social clubs, you’ll be fine.
• Some course credits might not transfer to a four year college 1:1, requiring a repeat of courses at the new school. I’ve seen this happen more the other way around. Schools may not recognize all transfer credits as expected. It’s important to work closely with guidance counselors during enrollment.
• The quality of education at a junior college may vary greatly compared to courses at a regular four year research university, where there are more opportunities to learn from professors at the top of their field. However, many top professors have taught at a community college at one point. For instance, Jill Biden taught at Northern Virginia Community college.
• There is still the negative stigma of not going to a four year university. One misconception is the notion that students resort to junior college after getting rejected from regular universities. The perception can be hard for some students to swallow.
• If you go to college early, you can burn out if you’re not careful balancing other commitments. Teenagers require structure and are typically still working on developing time management skills. This happened to me, and I took a break from college before graduating.

Ultimately, if a college degree is the main goal, starting at a junior college can save an immense amount of time and money, and help ensure better outcomes.

If you start early like me, you could attend a 4 year university around the same time as students your age. The social sacrifices would be smaller than waiting until graduation to start school.

Now that we’ve covered costs, let’s get into the nitty gritty of how the savings occur.

Breaking it down — At Least 40% Off College Costs

If you’ve made it this far in the article, let’s see how the college “discount” is possible.

For relevancy, we will use recent figures.

I promised at the beginning how to slash 40% to 80% off college costs.

First, a few statistics and assumptions about four year colleges/universities.

• Average cost of college on-campus per year: $26,027.
• On campus means you live near school grounds, such as a dorm, and may have a meal plan.
• Average cost of college off-campus per year: $13,677.
• Off campus means you live in housing with either a family member or roommates a bit further from campus, which is often more affordable than on-campus room and board fees.
• Four year college/university allows you to transfer up to 60 credits.
• Full undergraduate college degree requires 120 credit hours equivalent.

If you finish 60 credits at the junior college, half of the required credit hours have been completed.

After, you only need 60 more hours, or two years equivalent to finish your undergraduate degree.

We will use this assumption in our calculation to observe max savings.

Second, let’s take a look at the average cost of junior college.

• For the 2021–22 school year, public junior colleges charge approximately $5,155 per year for in-state students and $8,835 for out-of-state students.
• Let’s assume $0 in rent and in-state residency since local colleges are designed to be near neighborhoods. I know this can vary based on circumstances, but let’s stick with this scenario for now.

Below are the results by college type and attendance.

Results by College Type and Attendance

• Attending college ON campus for four years: $104,108! 💰💰💰💰
• Certainly not a cheap endeavor.
• Attending college OFF campus for four years: $58,708. 💰💰
• A little better but not the best.
• Attending junior college for two years $10,310! 💰
• Wow, much better. Plus, some local colleges have transfer scholarships as a bonus for finishing 60 credits.

Total Cost of Degree after Junior College by Attendance Type

💵 40% Savings — Living ON Campus after TWO YEARS at Junior College:

• If you spend two years at the junior college first and then go to a four year college while living on campus, you can save almost 40% (10,310 plus 26,027*2, divided by 104,108 minus 1 * 100).

Total average cost: $62,234

💵💵 69% Savings — Living OFF Campus after TWO YEARS at Junior College:

• If you spend two years at the junior college first and then go to a four year college OFF campus, you can save 69% compared to attending all four years and living on-campus (10,310 plus 13,677*2, divided by 104,108 minus 1 * 100) compared to attending college and living off campus all four years.
• Note: some schools require students to live on campus the first year, this doesn’t typically apply to transfer students with 60 credits.

Total average cost: $37,664

Next, I cover how I saved over 75% on college attendance.

How I saved Over 75% and Attended College While Residing ON Campus

I’ll keep this short but I’m only sharing my story to show this is possible. I went to college around 2006, so will use data from relevant years for benchmark.

• Average cost of college ON campus in 2010 per year: $25,910
• Attending college ON campus for four years in 2010: $103,640

How I did it:

• Went to junior college at 16 for 2.5 years in 2006: $1,200.

My parents lost their house and much of their income went to pay their debt, which reduced their net income, qualifying me for Pell Grants, which are for low income students with exceptional needs. I realize this is not an average situation.

• Cost of remaining two years at a four year university while living ON campus: $20,100.
• I qualified for transfer scholarship and a few more grants, so did not pay for tuition but paid for off campus housing near school.
• I took out an extra money so that I didn’t have to work the last semester of senior year to pay for housing.
• This includes an $4,00 extra loan at the four year university to take summer classes.

Total cost: $21,300

Savings: 78% 💵💵💵

That’s how I saved almost 80% in a nutshell.

Consequences of Early Student Debt and Disappearance of Trade Skills

College is so much more expensive these days.

We have a whole generation entering the workforce with debt, setting them back years from developing wealth and settling down.

If you’re not sold on the idea of college, it is OKAY.

And all of us should think it’s OKAY.

Because of the push for college, this country has an oversupply of college degree holders and and an undersupply of vital trade workers:

While a shortage of workers pushes wages higher in the skilled trades, the financial return from a bachelor’s degree is softening, even as the price, and the average debt into which it plunges students, remain high.

This reminds me of an interesting statistic.

I went to a state university with over 30,000 students in attendance, but the four year graduation rate was 30% in 2011.

THIRTY. PERCENT.

Would you go to school knowing there was a 70% chance you’ll pay for an extra year or two of college?

Let’s break it down:

• A 30% graduation rate of a 30,000 student population means around 20,000 students take more than four years to graduate.
• MEANING, the college made 20,000 times the additional tuition years off those students.
• Those students have additional tuition to pay or additional debt to take out.

Not everyone NEEDS to go to college.

Per the statistics above, I would go so far to suggest not everyone SHOULD go to certain colleges.

However, let’s be clear.

• It is not the college’s responsibility to make sure you as a student can afford college.
• It is not the college’s responsibility to make sure you make wise academic choices, such as graduating within four years (barring uncontrollable circumstances like health issues).
• It is not the college’s responsibility to find you a job after college.

In summary, know that for some students, paying for college can come with significant risk of a negative return on investment (ROI).

High interest rates make the ROI much worse.

You must choose wisely and understand the risks, along with developing the right dedication for your financial future.

My passion is to help others discover their wealth. I grew up in deep poverty and conquered serious financial challenges to have a normal life. I eventually saved enough cash to quit my job and kickstart my own consulting firm, where my clients vary from mid-large organizations. Through Modern Money, I share money tips, education, and career advice. Hoping even one tip can make a difference for others. 💰✨

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial or legal advice. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.