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<p>Parental support might be limited to providing a place to stay at home and paying the tuition, fees, and books costs at the local community college – i.e. not much more than the cost of supporting a high school student. If the student eventually transfers to a local state university, the tuition costs would rise, but such costs are usually not as high as for private or out-of-state public universities, and the student may still be able to live at home for lower cost than if s/he had to live on his/her own at the university.</p>
<p>Based on California CC and CSU costs, a college student attending local CC and CSU would cost about $4,000 more per year than a high school student while at CC, and about $10,000 more per year than a high school student while at CSU (counting tuition, books, and commuting costs; not counting room and board and misc expenses that are assumed to be the same as for a high school student).</p>
<p>While not a trivial amount of money, it is nowhere near the costs people tend to see when they look at the $60,000 per year cost to attend a non-commuter private university. It is likely that a far greater percentage of parents can afford to let a student live at home and contribute $28,000 for the CC and state university than can put up $240,000 for the student to attend a non-commuter private university. And if the parent is willing to let the student live at home, but is unwilling to contribute more, the now-adult student has more job options, as well as Stafford loans, to put that $28,000 cost into affordability range.</p>