Five Money Saving Reasons to Attend Community College Before Attending a 4-Year University

I spent FIFTEEN times as much money attending a 4-year university than I would have at a community college! Deciding to attend a community college before attending a 4-year university can be the difference between thousands of dollars and wasted time. In my experiences of attending both, I can genuinely say that I should have spent my first two years or at least enough time to fulfill my university degree requirements, at a community college.

Significant Price Difference

I literally could have gone to a community college for 15 semesters for the money I spent to attend a university for one.

The extremely significant price gap can mean the difference in an apartment, new computer, a car, and traveling (all things I missed out on sadly). Returning to school for another semester may even be jeopardized. Going to a community college first will keep your debt lower as well. If need be, you will have to borrow less money to attend school, therefore paying back less. By the time you have to pay those loans back, you will owe two, maybe three times as much money as when you received the loan money.

Pre-Requisite Fulfillment

I spent the first four semesters of college taking pre-requisite classes for my actual major and finding out what that major was going to be. My pre-requisites included math, writing, social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities classes.

Depending on which university, community college courses have become increasingly easy to transfer and will fulfill the same requirements. This gives you the same amount of time to figure out what you would like your concentration to be minus the wasted money. If you don't necessarily follow the track you designed for yourself pre-college, you and your parents may not be so upset when you have to point your goals in another direction.

Living Costs

Along with the costs of tuition and books, there are living expenses. Out of $18,000, close to $7,000 of it was for the cost it took to live in a university dorm. This included dorm food I rarely ate thus spending excess money on eating elsewhere, a dorm room I rarely stayed in, and a gamut of other resources that I never used!

Though there are still living expenses when attending a community college, you will probably be paying for things that you will use or you will have the luxury, like I did, of living at home with your parents.

Transition Period

The difference between high school and the university lifestyle can be a complete culture shock for some. The freedom to come and go as you please, being responsible for whether or not you attend class, do your homework, and get it in on time is now up to you. Balancing a social life and academics proves to be one of the most overwhelming aspects of college. Unfortunately, 4-year universities are more notorious for students "living it up" than community colleges. There are more people, more parties, and more trouble thus more opportunities for wasted money. Some students will benefit from a smaller; more comfortable environment therefore will produce better academic results.

Less Strenuous Curriculum

In many cases, students must work and care for their families among other circumstances outside of their academics. It has been my experience that community colleges offer a curriculum structure that is a mix between high school and college. You get the freedom of a less frequent class schedule yet in most cases the class material isn't as difficult.

Though attending a community college before attending a 4-year university is a great idea, have a couple of universities in mind and meet with an advisor to determine which will and will not transfer. After all, you don't want to waste what could be a very beneficial experience.