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A friend of mine goes to a very expensive private college that costs about $43,000 for tuition and fees per year. He gets some financial aid but not much, Mom and Dad pay most of that cost.
What do you think of attending a Community College in the Summer at their relatively low tuition costs to speed up graduation from the private college and save money? Every class costs about $3000 at the Private College and only $600 at the Community College.
He would only attend the community college duriing the summer and continue to attend the private college during the regular school year. Is this common?
My college costs about 30K a year for tuition and a number of kids went/go to the local CC in the summer and transfer their credits back to their home institution. Pretty smart if you ask me. I did my first two years at the CC and then the final two years at the expensive private university.
A friend of mine goes to a very expensive private college that costs about $43,000 for tuition and fees per year. He gets some financial aid but not much, Mom and Dad pay most of that cost.
What do you think of attending a Community College in the Summer at their relatively low tuition costs to speed up graduation from the private college and save money? Every class costs about $3000 at the Private College and only $600 at the Community College.
He would only attend the community college duriing the summer and continue to attend the private college during the regular school year. Is this common?
I would and have done it. It is completely worth it. Just don't do it blind folded without consulting with your academic advisor. Have them approve and sign off on everything before you take a class. Even get the chair of your department to approve it. You don't want it to come back as unapproved after you've already spent the time and money when it's time for you to graduate. It would be a major bite in the ass.
Also in my experience, colleges only allow this type of thing with community colleges using electives.
I attended an "expensive" private school that in the long run was less expensive than any state school because they had more money to give in scholarships, etc. I did not take summer classes because they would not have transferred and it would have been a waste of money. There is a very good chance that taking classes at a community college would end up the same way, not transferring and then you are out the $600. Very few private schools accept transfer credits, even from 4 year schools.
Community college classes wouldn't be counted by my university for credit- only prereqs- because the university couldn't vouch for the rigor. Only certain programs were approved. Even the summer classes I took at Harvard didn't count (though I did not expect them to).
Then again, you paid by year, not by credit. I took 5 or (with approval) 6 classes a semester at no extra cost.
Community college classes wouldn't be counted by my university for credit- only prereqs- because the university couldn't vouch for the rigor. Only certain programs were approved. Even the summer classes I took at Harvard didn't count (though I did not expect them to). Then again, you paid by year, not by credit. I took 5 or (with approval) 6 classes a semester at no extra cost.
Wrong! Some classes at the Community College will not transfer to the Private Four Year College, but many classes will. You just need to work with your academic advisor and find five classes to take during the summer that will transfer and then you save one semesters high private school tuition and fees.
It varies by school, what you want to take, and how many credits you have already. Almost every school requires you to get prior permission (and even if they don't, you'll want to anyway for reasons listed above.)
For example, the private school I went to allowed students to take CC classes during the summer with prior approval but ONLY if you hadn't yet completed sophomore year. Once you had enough credits to be considered a junior -you couldn't transfer in classes from ANY community college. You COULD transfer in classes from another 4 year school during the summer but you had to go through a very long process to have them count for anything more than electives.
I personally never did this because I lived near where I went to school (yes, I was a "townie") and the nearest community college was much FURTHER from my home than the private school I was attending. Also, at the time my school offered a reduced rate for summer classes. Tuition was $100 less a credit for summer than it was during the semester or intersession.
A friend of mine goes to a very expensive private college that costs about $43,000 for tuition and fees per year. He gets some financial aid but not much, Mom and Dad pay most of that cost.
What do you think of attending a Community College in the Summer at their relatively low tuition costs to speed up graduation from the private college and save money? Every class costs about $3000 at the Private College and only $600 at the Community College.
He would only attend the community college duriing the summer and continue to attend the private college during the regular school year. Is this common?
I say go for it. I go to one of the cheapest schools in the country but every spring, take my classes online to save money and travel. No regrets. I'd definitely recommend taking classes--once you know for sure that the gen eds or whatever will transfer--at the CC to save cash.
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