Getting Into College: According to a Fed Study, Community college enrollment, earning power increases in U.S.

I hear this question a lot.  Should my son or daughter go to community college for a couple of years, then go off to the bigger university.  The reason parents even consider this is because they think it’s cheaper.  Let’s face it figuring out how to pay for college is important to parents.  On the surface this makes a lot of sense, especially if you compare the surface costs of the community college.  For instance, at $120/credit hour at the community college and taking 12 credit hours, the semester cost could be $1,440.  On the other hand, the semester cost at a major university might be $9,000.  So in this light community college is far less expensive. In my opinion, however, the long run cost of attending a community college can be far greater than the cost of major university.  The fact is college financing can be tricky.
First, in our example the cost of the community college is not a fair comparison to the major university.  It does not include books, transportation, housing, or food.  The cost of the major university does include these things.  If your son/daughter goes to the community college they will commute, you will have to feed them, and will probably have a job to help pay for things.  Jobs can be very unforgiving to a student when they need time off to study.  I’ll talk more about this point a little later.  Let’s add up some of the costs to live at home.

Food:                                             $150/month
Gas:                                                $175/month
Car insurance:                           $150/month
Car Maintenance/repair:      $50
Books:                                           $250
Other College Fees                   $100
So for a typical term we have to add about another $2450 in expenses.  Still, however, adding community college tuition and added expenses we are only at $3,890 per semester vs the $9,000 above.  So still it’s less expensive to go to the community college but let’s continue.

Second, I’ve seen many kids go to community college and while they are living at home they go find a job.  They will work at this job probably around 20 hours or so per week.   Many times the kids are working to put gas in their car, make the car payment and insurance payment.  This again is a great idea.  However, in my experience this has potentially two problems for kids.  The first is the job, might not be that flexible for the kids so it could hamper the study time or worse conflict with upcoming classes.  If you child works certain hours and next term a class are only offered during those hours, it might be difficult to switch their schedule around.  If this is the case then they’ve lost part of the benefit of going to the community college.  Secondly, most kids that are working are getting used to a certain lifestyle.  They have money to go out, buy cloths, pay for the cell phone, and drive a little nicer car.  Now when it’s time to go to the major university, they don’t want to give up the lifestyle and it becomes a bigger change for them.

A third item to consider.  In the beginning of this post I compared the cost using 12 credit hours.  Usually a person needs 120 credit hours to get a bachelors degree.  That breaks down to 15 credit hours per semester or probably 5 classes.  I’ve seen many times where kids attend community college they are working, closer to friends.  The result is they take 4 classes (12 credit hours) or 3 classes (9 credit hours).  There is a short fall here that will have to be made up at the major university at the higher tuition rate!  Also, tuition rates are increasing so the tuition at the major university will be more expensive in the future than now.  A high percentage of overall students do attend community colleges, their staying power isn’t as impressive. A significant portion of students complete relatively few college credits.  One study showed that the majority of community college students complete one year or less and 35 percent complete one semester of study or less. The study also showed that less than half of community college students complete any degrees.  In addition, each year they are in college, means another year they are not working and earning money.

Fourth, the $9,000 cost at the major university is not always the full responsibility of the family.  There is financial aid!  Financial aid at the community college is VERY limited.  Let’s say you get $2,500 in financial aid.  So the cost is now $6,500.  If you pick the college correctly, they might give a full tuition discount. So now the difference between the big university and the community college is $2,610.

Fifth,  there does a stigma exist, through the eyes of employers, when given the choice of hiring a community college graduate versus the bearer of a four-year university diploma? Studies have been conducted and remarkably, there are differences in annual salaries for individuals with an associate degree and without it for all education levels.  Regardless of the highest degree, people who started their post-secondary education with an associate degree earn less on average than those who started at a four-year college. The difference is particularly big for those who have a PhD or a professional degree.

In closing there are more things to consider when looking at the community college vs the major university.  First there are more “hidden costs” with the community college.  The cost of a major university includes all living expenses.  Second, most children will hold a job while gong to the community college.  It can be more difficult for them to transfer to a major university and become a “poor college student” once they get used to a lifestyle.  Third, many kids don’t take a full load which will cause them to spend more time in the major university.  As tuition rates rise the cost for this added time will be more than if they went straight to the school.  Also, more time in college means less time working.  Fourth aid is more available at a major university so you might not be expected to pay for all of the schooling.  Finally, there are some careers that a student which started in the community college will actually make less money.

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