Some families believe in that. From what I’ve seen, those people often end up with little to no debt, since they’re paying it entirely themselves. I do find it odd that he’d cosign a loan, but won’t contribute to your education.
I don’t see how a community college could cost more than a local one. If you’re eligible for the Pell Grant, it would probably cover the costs. If not, you could probably pay it off with money you’ve earned from work.
North Central’s website says the Presidential Scholarship is for “exceptional high school students”, and they consider GPA & test scores. A 2.8 obviously isn’t exceptional, possibly your ACT would be high enough.
I ran the NPC. Living would cost $18,720, if you’re eligible for FULL Pell Grant and receive the scholarship! Even if they work out a “deal” with you, there’s no way a CC costs more than this.
Does your dad understand that it’s no longer possible to “work your way through college” the way it was until about 10 years ago?
Does he understand that cosigned loans are HIS to repay if you can’t and/or mean you’ll have to live home until you’re 25-30 years old?
In terms of lessons, a better lesson would be to require you work 10 hours a week during the year and full time during breaks + loan you whatever money he can loan you from his own income/savings: if you graduate in 4 years with a 3.0, he’ll forgive half and you pay half, and if you graduate in 4 years with a 3.3 he’ll forgive it all. Or something like i (if you graduate in 5 years with a 3.3 you have to repay half, if you graduate in 4 with a 3.3 you have to repay 1/4, if you graduate in 4 years with a 3.5 he forgives it all…) It’d teach you not to dawdle in college and focus on graduating in 4 years.
Borrowing a lot of money is a terrible alternative to that.
But, whatever, that’s the situation you’re in.
I believe you about the worthless CCs, there are areas where they only offer vocational and remedial education.
So, apply widely. You really need to.
Check out Blackburn, I believe that students are given the opportunity to work for tuition regardless of parents’ income. It’s in Illinois, about 60 miles from St Louis though, very small, and while their average GPA of 3.2 is higher than yours, your 27 probably puts you in the top 10% students. In short, it’s better than a community college, it’s residential, and while your goal may well be to transfer after 1 year or two, tuition+R&B= 27K and you’d definitely qualify for merit scholarships (probably $5,000 or so) in addition to the work program. Considering how expensive IL public universities are, it’s worth applying and seeing how much it costs. Plan to take your gen eds and have excellent grades that allow you to transfer to UIUC CS and you’re golden. 
https://blackburn.edu/prospective-students/work-program/
Another option is to find a community college that has housing AND a 2+2 agreement with UIUC or another 4-year public university. I’ll look into it.
Okay found something.
Illinois Central College is a community college thathas 3 programming/CS classes, Engineering and Science programs, AND Housing.
If you live in housing, you’re considered “in-district” for tuition. Costs are about $5,000 (all inclusive) for the year for a furnished, private bedroom in a 4-bedroom, on-campus apartment.
http://icconcampushousing.com/floorplans/4-bedroom/
An ACT 27 qualifies you for the Honors College provided you took challenging classes (Honors? AP? = please answer). And if you apply this week you could qualify for a full tuition scholarship, leaving you with only the costs of room+food (which you should be able to cover with a little from your savings + part-time job).
http://icc.edu/academics/honors-program/
Fill out the application NOW and contact Dr. Cordell-Brunton to start a conversation and let her know you, your motivation, background, etc. Give proof you will be a valuable student by exhibiting intellectual curiosity (favorite subject and why, favorite book and why…) that you’d bring into class discussions, highlighting how you challenged yourself with Honors and AP classes… etc…
The only problem would be finding the two CS classes you’d need (from another CC?)
http://icc.edu/academics/catalog/associate-in-science/?prog=Associate%20in%20Science
or
http://icc.edu/academics/catalog/degree-type/associate-in-engineering-science-degree-requirements/
Transfer agreements
http://www.itransfer.org/iai/participating.aspx?section=students
Regardless of where you go, you’ll need to follow this:
http://www.itransfer.org/IAI/gened/default.aspx?section=students
and be familiar with this:
http://www.itransfer.org/IAI/others/publicarticulationagreement.aspx?section=students
JOliet JC=
you automatically qualify for the Honors program and while it’s not very developed, it’d still help you get into competitive programs at the 4-year level.
http://www.jjc.edu/honors/Pages/general-information.aspx
They have computer-related classes
http://www.jjc.edu/cios/Pages/default.aspx
It’s got housing
http://www.jjchousing.com/
Some scholarships but they don’t look as generous as the ones at ICC:
http://www.jjc.edu/scholarships/Pages/default.aspx
For UIUC you’ll need to have taken 2-3 semesters of calculus plus discrete math, plus 2 semesters of CS.
http://www.itransfer.org/IAI/majors/default.aspx?file=iai§ion=students&t=cs&p=TechRec
If you attend a community college such as ICC where you can get a full tuition scholarship, you could borrow the subsidized federal loan and “bank” it, so that you can use it when you go to SIU-C, UIUC, or another other public university in your state.
I apologize if this is a dumb question, but would blackburn be a good place to transfer out of? Like, would schools like the UIUC’s look at it and think it was a good school? I think i like that option a lot, JJC is fine but you’re right they dont give a lot of financial aid. Is it normal to live on campus at CC’s? I’ve never really heard of anyone doing that.
Thanks for taking this seriously! 
Berea College is another school where you can work for tuition. It’s specifically for low-income students, but you did say you had financial issues, so you may be eligible.