I am thinking about attending a community college and I am lower income. Are there a lot of out-of-pocket costs (like for transportation, housing, food etc) that community college students have to face during college? And if so what methods do community college students use to finance them?
If you are a low income student, I would suggest you discuss what your local community college or state offers lower income students. Some states have good initiatives for helping.
You are eligible for a $5500 Direct Loan which is in the student name only. Without knowing your income, you might be eligible for a Pell Grant which is a federally funded grant also. These together should cover the costs of attending a community college assuming you live at home.
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My daughter lived away at community college and she paid her rent, groceries, personal items, and entertainment. She managed it by working at Target. We paid for phone and car expenses, so if she didn’t have that help, she may have had to touch savings or take a student loan.
If your income is low enough to qualify for the Pell Grant, it’s possible the PG itself will cover the entire cost of attending a non-residential in-state Community College, and include funds to cover books.
Have you filled out the FAFSA yet? If so, what was the result?
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The 2023-2024 FAFSA doesn’t open until October 1.
When will you be starting community college?
Another way to save a lot of money is by taking some courses online at Modern States’ website. It’s a non-profit and you can basically take the equivalent of freshman year of college for free. At the end of each course, they have you take a practice CLEP exam…once you pass the practice CLEP exam, Modern States gives you a voucher to use to register for the CLEP exam for free…so it doesn’t cost you anything. Normally, a CLEP exam costs $97 per test.
A CLEP exam gives you the same college credit basically as an AP exam would.
You can most definitely do CLEP exams while also attending community college.
Their website is https://modernstates.org/. It’s not a gimmick and there’s no “catch.” For whatever university you’re thinking of transferring to, you can search on that college/university’s website to see what the equivalent course credit would be that you’d get for passing the CLEP exam in various subjects.
It depends on your living situation. If you continue to live with your parents, the cost of living will likely be similar to that when you were a high school student. The amount could be highly variable, depending on what your family actually spent to support you as a high school student. Commuting costs may differ, depending on how you would commute to the college versus how you commuted to high school.
If you need to live on your own to attend the college, that can be significantly more expensive. If the community college provides an estimate of living expenses (search for “cost of attendance”), that may be a reasonable first pass estimate. If that is not provided, but there is a nearby four year college that does provide it (for students living off campus), that may be a reasonable first guess.
For lower income students, financing college attendance is typically through a combination of:
- Pell grants (see Federal Student Aid ).
- Direct loans (up to $5,500 first year).
- Any state financial aid to state residents (usually only for in-state public universities and community colleges), depending on your state.
- Any financial aid from the college (less common at community colleges).
- Earnings from a part time job.
- Any parent contribution (probably little or none for low income, except if they continue to subsidize you living with them).
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What state do you live in? Some states offer free community college tuition. Lots of students live at home to go to community college.
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