<p>Kelsmom: Grand Rapids Community College</p>
<p>•Resident: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $95.50 per contact hour
•Non-resident: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $209.50 per contact hour </p>
<p>Non-resident means non district…not out of state…those rates are even higher…I won’t scare you with the fees 
Northwestern in Traverse City is almost as bad.</p>
<p>AnthonyLam -</p>
<p>It looks like you are considered out-of-county for the community college that you are attending. Am I correct about that? If so, can you change to the community college where you are in-county OR to a major at the CC where you are enrolled that is a statewide program? If you are in one of those programs, and you qualify for in-state rates, you pay the in-county rate no matter where you reside. Check the full list at [Search</a> for Statewide Programs](<a href=“http://www.mhec.state.md.us/utilities/search_state.asp]Search”>http://www.mhec.state.md.us/utilities/search_state.asp)</p>
<p>Do go talk with the financial aid office, and with your advisor. There may be a college or departmental scholarship that you qualify for that will help bring down your cost a bit.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>
<p>Anthony, I understand that you don’t want to borrow money for school but I think your fear of a small amount of debt is a bit misplaced. Assuming you’re majoring is something that will actually provide you with the education and/or skills to secure a better paying job with a future vs. the minimum wage jobs that many with only HS educations can get these days, it’s probably worth taking on some debt to finish school.</p>
<p>Finaid.org has excellent loan calculators that you can use. Taking the $5500 Stafford loan this year and another $6500 next year would leave you with $12,000 in debt (plus a small amount of interest) which would require a payment of only $138/month for 10 years. Don’t you think your degree will allow you to increase your earnings by more than that?</p>