Doing this one thing saved me over $10,000 in college

Short backstory: When I was about to graduate from high school I was sorely un-prepared and unfortunately missed the boat on a lot of great opportunities.

But one thing I was most certain about was that I did not want to wait to start college, I wanted to jump straight into university life and be a typical “college student“.

I wanted the tiny dorm room, meal plan and most importantly, to attend university. 

You are probably like, well duh. But while I had all this mapped out in my mind, I had no clue yet how I was going to pay for it.

I still hadn’t figured out the ins and outs of financial aid and loans, nor did I even consider what the total sum of this would cost. Meanwhile, deadlines are approaching and I was almost to a point of just taking out whatever loans I could get so I could pay for this first semester at my home town university. 

Then I was given some very good advice which saved me  A TON…..

Community college. 

Community college was at the very bottom of the list for me, it wasn’t something I was even close to considering, I just felt like it wasnt  “real college”. (Whatever that is) 

Let me go ahead and debunk the myths and help you understand the amazing benefits of doing your first half at a community college. 

Community college is ‘college’ just a much cheaper and flexible version

I was able to do my first two years (basic classes) at a fraction of a cost, almost 80% less than my university tuition cost. I’ll put up my exact class prices at the end of this post so you can get a better visual. 

I was able to do most of them ONLINE. Which not only allowed me to keep my full time job but also did not force me to drive to campus. 

Most classes will transfer back to your university

This is tricky, make sure the classes you’re taking are indeed transferrable. Most universities offer transfer equivalency charts or sites where you can see which will count and which won't.

Be safe and speak to an adviser before you take a class— only to discover you have to retake it later 😑 (yes this happened to me).

It gave me time

I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to do as far as my major, this gave me some time to do my research and figure out what route was best for me.

It gave me time to save up some money. Tuition at community college was so cheap that I actually got a nice return and didn’t have to take out loans my first year. When I finally did make the move to my home university, my tution was covered for my Junior year. 

Community College allowed me to get used to ‘adulting’

I keep going back to this but I was unprepared for the ‘high school-to-college’ jump and I cannot emphasize the importance of preparation enough.

Community college gave me the chance to get acquainted with college and how the process works. 

1. I learned the importance of knowing your syllabus and deadlines
2. Planning ahead when you have 3+ things due at one time, it will happen repeatedly in your college career.
3. Researching your professor, because this honestly can make or break a semester.
4. Knowing my limits, 7 classes in high school is vastly different than 7 classes in college. Burnout is real and knowing your limits is important to your wallet and your health.

Don’t be fooled— Yes, of course I still made mistakes. I took classes that weren’t completely necessary with professors that I didn’t research. I had to fall a bit before I got into the groove of things, but I walked away with way less debt than if I had gone straight into University. 

Here is the rundown of the tuition costs at Community college verses what I spent at a 4 year. 

4 Year University Total

The chart is wayy too big so I’m just going to summarize, and this is for tuition only, the extra fees tack on a lot more. 

Fall 2015- $2,370.50

Spring 2016- $3,232.50

Fall 2016- $2,586.00

Spring 2017- $2,586.00

Fall 2017- $4,332.00

Spring 2018- $3,876

Summer 2018- $1,368

Total = $20,350.50

($2,065.5 for one -3 credit class, and $2,754 for one- 4 credit class) and 79 Total Hours.

Community College Total

 The chart is attached for reference.

• $4,120.00 ($340 for 1 science class (4 credit), $160 for 1- 3 credit )
• 63 Total Hours
  

Take away: 

JUCO (Junior College) was about $44 a credit hour on average while University was about $228 on average. So just by doing my basics at JUCO I was able to spend.

$4,120.00 vs. $14,364 for the same amount of hours.

Total Savings = $10,244 

While I understand this route isn’t for everyone, we all have different circumstances but for those of you who are really trying to cut the bill but have the same goal of an undergraduate degree this was a life saver for me.

For some additional tips on budgeting read our 2024 Budget binder post where you can also get free prints lees to get you started.