Interesting Google showed the same results. That’s a very close estimate.
I got the costs off of the college websites via a Google search!
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@thumper1 has been very helpful. Please consider the advice she has given across your threads.
Also, go to the college websites and look at transfer requirements, potential majors for your bachelors degree and possible career paths. Since you will no longer be eligible for Pell and federal loans after your bachelors, I believe it is imperative that you choose a major that will provide job opportunities after the 4-year degree.
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Thanks for the information. I’ve been digging around Universities for days now. Taking my time doing a lot of comparing.
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Good luck!
I think you’re misunderstanding what they’re telling you. The community college financial aid office can’t cover you for a BS degree because they have no control over the aid you get at the 4-year university. Neither school can guarantee that you’ll have Pell and federal student loans until you finish because there are time limits and dollar caps attached to both. And neither school can increase your Pell award or the amounts you can borrow. Those are set by the federal government.
Students can receive Pell for 12 full-time semesters (600% of your lifetime award). If you don’t finish your bachelor’s by then you’ll have to pay for the rest on your own. Courses you take this summer at a community college will count against your Pell and may not transfer to the 4-year school. There are several reasons that might happen: the cc courses might not have an equivalent at the University, they may not count toward your major there, or you may simply have too many credits. If you’ll have an associate’s degree in May you really need to move on from the cc. If you use up your Pell and federal student loan eligibility before you finish you’ll have to come up with the money to pay for the rest of the courses you need.
What type of job do you hope to do after you graduate from the university? I think you need to have a degree that will allow you to support yourself in case the funding for grad school doesn’t work out right away. Majors like biology and psychology require grad school, so those aren’t great choices. If you can’t go to grad school right away what type of work would you like to do?
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My whole main goal is to get a job as a dentist but that’s going to be for a while. That long paragraph was very clear thanks 
You’re right that dental school takes a long time. They’re similar to med schools because they also expect applicants to shadow dentists, and they consider community service, leadership, and research activities. Do some research to find out if they accept science courses from a cc. Saving a few hundred dollars on a course doesn’t help if nobody will take it.
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I remember in my other thread I told you my friend got her BS in Biology, she was not happy with her AGS degree at her CC. She went to purse an AS or AAS in dental hygiene if I remember correctly and then only spent 2.5 years at her university, she managed to finish her Uni quickly since all those science courses matched to her bachelor’s. Plus she did not pay a penny 
The federal Government paid for her, how lucky.
She was only required to take the courses that were needed for her BS Biology.
That’s great for your friend. You need to see your advisor to map out a transfer plan for you, though, because schools are different. They don’t always take the same things. Even the same school may have different requirements than they did a couple years ago. You may also want to find out if dental schools count cc courses as prereqs. I’m not sure all do.
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What have you been doing for the last ten years? What jobs have you had? What makes you think dentistry is your thing (other than you think you will earn a lot of money being a dentist)?
Listen to what @austinmshauri said. Your community college has NO control over the amount of institutional aid a four year college will give you. Not one bit of control.
Your guaranteed federal aid with a $0 EFC is the Max Pell of $6345 and a $7500 Direct Loan. Period. Nothing beyond that is guaranteed. With the tuition costs I quoted above, it seems like you will be able to cover tuition until your Pell eligibility runs out. And if you don’t move along, it WILL run out. There is no appeals process to get more.
Your goal should be to get a bachelors ASAP. I would suggest this goal be by the time you are 30. So…if it were me, I would be talking to the transfer advisor at your CC tomorrow about where you can beat transfer soonest, as well as possible majors given the courses you have taken.
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Might I suggest you not share stories about your friend. She may not want this site knowing her business.
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@thumper1, Do you know how student loan eligibility works? I know the student can take the $7500/year federal student loan in their 3rd and 4th years (as a junior and senior), but what happens if he needs a 5th or 6th year at the university? Can he still take a $7500 loan if he hasn’t gone over the $31k cap?
This. @austinmshauri made this point much better than I did in an earlier post.
For the time being, set aside the dream of grad school/dentistry/medicine. That doesn’t mean it can never happen, but you need to be employable so you can support yourself after your 4-year degree. Pell/federal aid goes away after that. You need to choose a major that will help you find a job after a bachelors degree.
Step 1: Follow @thumper1 's advice and meet with the transfer advisor and transfer as soon as possible.
Step 2: Meet with career services for input on choosing your major, taking into consideration the courses you already have taken AND job opportunities.
ETA: I don’t have experience with Pell/federal loans. I see others are addressing that in subsequent posts. It sounds like you may be able to take loans a bit longer as an independent student.
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OP is an independent student, so their Federal Direct Student loan cap is $57,500. One can take subsidized loans thru year 6, until you hit the max.
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IIRC, the student can take the loans.
Oh and @napnemeanix as an independent student, your direct loan each year is more than $7500 by about $4000.
There is an amount limit on subsidized loans…and it’s not the full amount.
Most of this loan amount will be unsubsidized.
Right. So if OP starts as junior this fall at UIC, they can take $12500 in loans, of which $5,500 would be subsidized. Same for senior year. Hopefully OP will be done with their bachelor’s degree at that point. OP, what have you taken in Federal Direct Student loans so far?
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Yes, he can take undergrad loans for 6 years as long as he doesn’t exceed the aggregate amount.
Pell Grants end…period…after undergrad. They are not available to grad or professional school students. But Direct Loans ARE available…and the amount per year is different depending on professional vs masters.
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@thumper1 @Mwfan1921 Lots of good and detailed information for the OP.
When do loan repayments start? How does that work? @napnemeanix needs to keep that in mind when setting goals for after the 4-year degree.