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A lot may depend on how mature your child is. I wasn't ready. I went to a private college and amassed over $100,000 in student loans before flunking out. I am now a big fan of community colleges. The fact is, unless you are going to an Ivy League school, it doesn't matter what college you graduate from. As long as it is accredited and you can provide a transcript, I really don't think most employers care. It also gives the student more flexibility to play around with electives to see if they have interests in any other areas. I spent the first half of college just trying to figure out what my major should be. I learned my lesson the hard way.
I chose a community college because its all I could afford. My parents can't help me, and I absolutely refuse to go into debt. Im going to be one of those rare students that graduate debt-free, thank you very much. No 8k or more to for me to pay after I graduate..Id rather keep my future paychecks.
An eight grand student loan will have a monthly payment of about $50. Yes, I know, it is still debt, but $50 a month is not much. While it is commendable to try and pay your own way through college, even a CC, there is a pretty high probability that either A), you are going to find yourself in a situation where a student loan becomes a must, or B), it is going to take you four, five, six + years just to receive a two-year degree; at which point you might be kicking yourself in the behind for not taking out that loan anyways because by this point in time you could have already graduated and possibly have all, if not a good amount, of that loan paid off.
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Originally Posted by Colddiamond102
I know this. But I also know that if ( God forbid) something happened and I couldnt make payments, then my parents would worry about how to help me.
Parents worry, it's what they do. It is easy to defer a student loan if you fall on economic hardship. Your parents wouldn't have to know.
Another thing is, if you take 6 years to get an AA degree, that is four additional years of deferred earnings. You have to calculate that into your financial plans.
I don't know about 4-6 years to complete an Associates. Assuming most run from 60-66 credits.
Trust me - some people can (and DO!!) stretch out the completion of an AA/AS/AFA/AAS to 4-6 years! Tuition (NC in-state) is ~$42.50/credit hour, not including books/supplies. Total credits depend on program - 64-72.
Trust me - some people can (and DO!!) stretch out the completion of an AA/AS/AFA/AAS to 4-6 years! Tuition (NC in-state) is ~$42.50/credit hour, not including books/supplies. Total credits depend on program - 64-72.
Im confused, you pretty said the exact same thing I did.
We are talking about hard workers here, not people that are trying to take it easy in school and graduate when they are 30.
3 yrs plus 1 semester is 3 1/2 yrs. That may be a "best case" scenario, too, under the circumstances you describe. As I said, the evening courses are often limited. You may have to wait to take a required course. Summer courses, too, may be limited.
64 credits (the minimum cited by mm_mary73) = 21+courses. At 5/calendar yr (two per semester + 1 per summer), that is 4+ years. At 6/cal. yr = 3 1/2 yrs.
Last edited by Katarina Witt; 10-09-2008 at 03:52 PM..
It depends on the name of the college on the diploma, not whether you started at CC.
You can't really get 2 yrs of college credit taking AP courses. That would be the equivalent of taking at least 8 AP courses, and in the right subjects. And there is a huge disparity of quality in those courses. Many colleges don't accept any AP courses, some only accept scores of 5 (the highest), etc. You're better off, IMO, going to a CC and taking the courses approved for transfer. Some courses won't transfer to a 4 yr school, such as vocational courses, remedial courses, etc.
You can get 2yrs of college credit taking AP courses if you know what you're doing.
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Tuition (NC in-state) is ~$42.50/credit hour, not including books/supplies. Total credits depend on program - 64-72.
