Have you considered going to a community college for 2 years, then transferring to a UC via TAG or CSU with an AA-T or AS-T agreement? This way you can finish your pre-req/GE classes for a lower cost and maybe in 2 years they will let you dorm as a transfer. If you do well at a CC, you will be able to transfer to a better CSU/UC for your major.
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/guarantee/
http://www.calstate.edu/transfer/degrees/AAAS-TDegreeRequirements.shtml