Education: College Planning and College FundingThe Pitfalls of Community CollegeThe Community College system has done amazing things for millions of students. It has afforded opportunities to people and helped them achieve goals that were originally far out of reach. Why do people go to community college? The primary reason is cost. There are other reasons such as convenience, schedule etcetera but I want to talk about one group of students today. The graduating high school student who qualifies for acceptance into a four year college and is planning on attending community college solely because they think it will save them money. That decision could actually cost them tens of thousands of dollars! How could that be you ask? Isn’t tuition at a community college lower? FULL PRICE tuition is lower. If you are a student with good grades, solid test scores and you know how to navigate the college system you should not be paying full price at a four year college. You should be receiving financial aid based on your merits and talents. I had one student who had been accepted to five schools (he should have applied to more) but received no financial aid offers. After I helped him with his financial aid appeal he was offered $62,000 from one school and $60,000 from another. You don’t have to pay full price if you know how to get funding. Let me give you a scenario. Johnny starts at community college in Tucson Arizona. He wanted to get some general education out of the way and try a few different electives. He does well and is ready to transfer. He fell in love with marine biology and began exploring schools with marine biology programs that have the best reputation and give him the best possibility for employment after graduation. He surprisingly found out they tend to be by the ocean. Arizona by chance is in the desert. His credits will only fully transfer to the University of Arizona. If he wants the best future he will now have to re-take many of his classes that he had already paid for once at the four year school. As an incoming Junior he no longer has access to the scholarships and other funds reserved for incoming Freshman potentially costing him more. When a college is considering a financial aid offer to a student the better schools will often question why that student started at community college. Even if they accept the student if they are concerned that the student will not be able to handle the environment at the four year school they will not offer merit and talent based awards. They simply don’t want to take the chance at a bad investment. I could go on but I think you get the picture. However, if you are a good student and it is time to choose a college, raise the bar and see how high you can get. The community college will always be there as a solid plan B.
College Planning and College Funding.
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Education Entertainment Magazine
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