<p>@ucbalumnus, the question was whether living away costs are part of a FA calculation from the institution. The CC I am familiar with assumes you are living at home, and does not include living away costs in their COA calculations for FA. Therefore, with financial aid, the CC may not be as great a savings as it appears, because of the cost of living away. For example, if UC gives $20K of grant aid, and the CC gives full tuition and fees, UC would be lower cost, IF YOU ARE LIVING AWAY. CC’s can be a great cost savings, and are great for other reasons in their own right. I was simply suggesting that the OP check the financials before assuming one approach to be better than another. In other words, COA calculations really depend on the assumptions used, and a community college may assume you are a member of the community and the cost of attending is simply the differential cost of the college, whereas a UC will assume you will be moving nearby to attend, and include those items (transportation and room and board) in their COA calculations.</p>