<p>My son attends a Big 10 school (Indiana University at Bloomington) instead of going to a in-state California college. Originally, the COA seemed to be out-of-whack when comparing it to an in-state school. However, his school, IU-B, guarantees that if a student is unable to graduate within 4 years because the school didn’t offer the necessary course(s) to do so, they will waive the tuition costs to complete the chosen major. </p>
<p>This didn’t seem like such a big deal a few years ago, but I’m quite glad for this guarantee now–especially since there are only 25 students graduating this year in his chosen major (Business Administration-Legal Studies)–and he will be one of those. The school did offer all the courses he needs to graduate and he will be finishing college within 4 years;–very necessary, considering I was out-of work for approximately 3 months this year, and his mother has had her work hours reduced as well.</p>
<p>P.S. I now work as the fiscal manager for one of the state’s largest high school districts–and the budget crisis for them is just as dramatic–although the federal stimulus funds have delayed their “final day of reckoning” until July of next year.</p>