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<p>Agree re expenses, but there definitely were SAT subject tests. I took several of them and I graduated from HS in 1971. :)</p>
<p>^ They were called Achievements, iirc.</p>
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<p>I just checked UMass’s housing rates and they start at $1,938.50 per semester for an economy triple. A shared room is $2,673.50 per semester. The most expensive room is $4,900.50 per semester. Residential meal plans are $2,602 for unlimited or $2,187 for 224 meals. So $10K is doable, even for a student that’s a big eater. It is certainly possible to spend $15K for room and board but that’s a choice, at least at UMass. Students would still have to fund meals if they commute but I find that one can usually eat cheaper with home-cooked meals.</p>
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<p>I’m sure that you’re familiar with research that shows that students who live on campus perform better academically and graduate earlier than their off-campus counterparts. Commuting usually has time costs so taking advantage of those other opportunities may be more difficult at the community college level.</p>
<p>Our son took a BSCS program at a state university. Our daughter is in an ASCS at a community college. The CS 101 courses at the two schools are considerably different. The university course has six times the work compared to the CC version. The university won’t transfer the CC course in - it will transfer multiple CS courses from the CC in as equivalent to the university course.</p>
<p>There are two professors that teach Calculus 2 (one per campus). One of the professors is great - he covers the material well, and he’s tough and he’s an excellent teacher. The other is awful. In general, I think that you can find good and bad teachers at colleges, but you might have a little more choice at state universities.</p>
<p>tptshorty–room, board and fees at the school our D is attending is just over $8000/year. None of the schools our kids looked at cost anywhere near $15,000/year to live on campus. One was $12,000, the rest were in the $10,000 ball park. The Community Colleges around here are not very good either. There is also a lot to be learned living on campus and not having mom and dad in your back pocket all day, every day. Our “big” tuition bill would be AT the CC here so why would we consider it? It would be $8000/year for our kids to attend, not including transportation, food, etc. They are looking at a net cost after merit aid of $9000/year or less…</p>
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<p>This is a big point for many parents. Financially, we realized that 2 years at a CC was the smart choice…but we also wanted our S to have the full college experience(as we both did) and to learn to live on his own. Some kids maybe don’t need this, we felt it was the right decision for our S.</p>
<p>zoosermom–good point. The money lost to our kids if they were transferring into their school would make going to a CC even MORE expensive then it already is.</p>
<p>Going to CC would be much cheaper for us, for sure, and that is after a very hefty FA package from his college. 5 gallons of gas a week (his private high school is right next door to the CC so I know what transportation costs,) and about $200 more a month for us in food/electricity/water (I know from his summer months at home what he adds to household expenses.) He has a car at school now and so expenses for that and the insurance is a wash. Tuition at our CC is $1,925 a semester. If he went to one of our state schools (NY) COA is about $20K a year, so again much cheaper at the CC.</p>
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<p>Yes (and CSU feeding also). This is by design. California intends for UCs and CSUs to have something like 60% upper division students and 40% lower division students, with many of the upper division students transferring in after attending community colleges for their lower division courses.</p>
<p>Because starting at community college is designed to be a low cost option, the UCs and CSUs are as generous with financial aid for transfer students as they are for freshman students.</p>
<p>The premise of the question is wrong.</p>
<p>Average room, board, and tuition at a 4 year college in the US is much lower:
about $16k for publics
about $32k for privates
[Fast</a> Facts](<a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/FastFacts/display.asp?id=76]Fast”>Fast Facts: Tuition costs of colleges and universities (76))</p>
<p>As with clothes or cars: NEVER pay list price.</p>
<p>Well it wasn’t $60,000 when my son went to USC put it was probably up to $50,000. Here’s how we did it: he had a small scholarship from USC; we borrowed the max from the Stafford; we received a return from our Virginia pre-paid plan each year since we weren’t using it in-state; I borrowed the rest against the amount in the Thrift Savings Plan available to Feds, and I repaid the amount each month through payroll deduction. He made some contributions through summer jobs, but not much. </p>
<p>He knew what he wanted to do from an early age and we told him if he could get into that particular part of USC we would send him there. He did, so we did. It has taken a number of years for him to settle into a decent career, but he seems to be on his way.</p>
<p>I would imagine the vast majority of middle class parents can’t afford to pay $60K per year. My husband and I take a very simple approach to our finances. If you can’t afford to pay cash for something, you don’t buy it. The only debt we have is our house which will be paid off in 5 years. If you can’t afford to go to a school that will cost you $60K per year, then you need to explore less expensive options (that have been covered extensively in this thread). In our case, we began saving for college when our daughter was born. We also received some assistance from a grandparent. Our daughter ended up going to to a state university where she received a full academic scholarship. So the money in her college fund can be used for grad school or perhaps as a down payment on a home in the future.</p>
<p>Currently, with my D at USC, it is over $60K at USC with off-campus apartment housing & meager board. She is in a program she loves and is the top in the nation, so we are hoping it will help her in her career upon graduation this term. Wished she got ANY scholarship money, but we were able to use the modest Coverdell account we made for her to help defray tuition. </p>
<p>S getting generous merit aid in a good program at USC was definitely helpful, and he also helped her move and with summer storage of her belongings. </p>
<p>Any way you look at it, $50K-$60K/year is A LOT of money! It was a slight help that the U allowed you to pay the money you owed them over a payment plan for $40-50/term, so it wasn’t such a huge amount at one time. We paid out of savings, contributions from family members and current earnings, but it was a challenge.</p>
<p>Sadly, our D did not get any merit offers (and would not have whether she started as a freshman or transferred, tho it could matter for other students who would otherwise qualify for merit or other awards as freshman but not as transfers), but it really helped that S did so we had more funds available to help D. S did get a good education at a U he was happy at and has an excellent job.</p>
<p>Our kiddo also wants to go to that top program USC is so famous for, and it WILL cost $60K/year. After paying $250K for four years at a New England boarding prep school, we will probably have paid close to half a million dollars to educate this kid by the time he gets that college diploma. (And, he has chosen a field where his job prospects may lead him to become a connoisseur of soup kitchens; we dont require an ROI from him.) He will have no debt upon graduation, but he will not receive any further financial assistance from us; were old. 
We will have financed this education on a very healthy 529 and 100% of the cash flow from one of our jobs. We have lived on one income from the time we married 32 years ago, regardless of what that looked or felt like. You would never pick us out of a crowd based on our appearance or the things we (dont) have, but education is a fundamental value in our family, so we have put every penny into it that we could. We are not middle income, but you wouldnt know it based on where and how we live. Weve made some Draconian choices for education opportunities, but we have no regrets.</p>
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<p>I.e. you fit the profile of The Millionaire Next Door.</p>
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<p>Few parents will let their children become homeless, no matter what they say beforehand.
Someday my wife and I may be reliant on our children, even if not financially. I would insist that adult children look for work and take what is available. Around the world, adult children, especially daughters, commonly live with their parents until marriage. We have a 4BR house. I don’t see the need to empty it.</p>
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<p>Once our child is an adult, his life is entirely his, and he is on his own. We hope to be welcome guests in his life as he will always be in ours, but we will no longer have any authority over or responsibility to him. Likewise, he will have no further obligations to us–even if WE are the occupants of the box under the freeway.</p>
<p>choatiemom, with all due respect–this thread is about how middle-income families afford college. It’s admirable that you can “pass” among those less fortunate and that you are not ostentatious, but a family that can live on one income and spend half a million dollars on educating one child is not middle class.</p>
<p>^ I think different people have different definition about middle class. I read a definition saying annual familiy income 50k to 500k are middle class. with that definition choatiesmom may belong to middle class.</p>
<p>Perhaps they need a reality check.</p>