How to make college affordable

Did you know that back in the early 2000’s college tuition at a public university averaged at around $10,000 – $20,000 for four years? I didn’t know that. My Texas Government class taught me that as well as the reasons why tuition has skyrocketed to the average we have now which is about $40,000 – $50,000 for four years. The majority of us certainly don’t have that money to go around. Fortunately, there are many scholarships and programs like FAFSA that can provide a big economic relief. But, what if you don’t qualify for FAFSA or win any scholarships? I’m sorry, but you are done for… Ha no! Of course not! You can’t eliminate going to college that easily! I didn’t qualify for FAFSA (still don’t), didn’t win any scholarships, and I definitely don’t come from a rich family. Yet, here I am starting my second semester of college.

So how did I do it? Sincerely it was a mix of unexpected blessings, but the biggest help was taking classes at my local community college. Yes, it might not sound impressive at first, but what if I told you I was going to a community college WHILE being a student at a university. Basically being co-enrolled. I am not missing out on anything a university has to offer. But, at the same time I am getting the benefits community college can offer like free parking, small classrooms, and tuition cost is far much lower! If money seems like it will be a big obstacle for you to further your education, or even if you are not sure what you want to be, I highly encourage you to consider starting off at a community college and then transferring to a university. That is something some of my friends are currently doing. They decided to start off at a community college to get common core classes out of the way, and so far they have not paid anything for their college career because FAFSA pretty much covered everything. I didn’t do that because I had enough AP credits to exempt me from most of those common core classes, but if I didn’t, I would have gone to community college first. But, as I have said I am co-enrolled, and the reason I decide to do that was simple. It was to save money.

This semester I was going to take all my classes at my university and it was going to be about $5,000. But, almost last-minute, I decided to take my Calculus 2 class at my community college, which caused the University tuition bill to go down to $3,500. So basically I was about to pay $1,500 for a class that will cost me $500 at the community college! Some might argue that I will be missing out on professor quality, but turns out some of the professors that teach at my community college also teach at my university. Last semester  I took Texas government at the community college and my professor happened to teach at my university. When we were learning the reasons why college tuition has increased he remarked that choosing to take classes at a community college was a good bet. He used himself as an example. He told us that he was teaching the exact same thing at my university just that we had the benefits of the small classroom and of course the lower tuition. Furthermore, I found out later on that my Calculus 1 professor also had classes at the community college! So I missed out on $1,500 there.

This whole co-enrollment thing came to be because for one, a part of me wanted to go to the community college because a lot of my closest friends were gonna go there, and two I knew it was going to be cheaper. Then I thought “Well, theoretically as a college student I have the power to decide when and how many classes I am taking. So, is it possible for me to decide WHERE to take them?” So, I googled it like any other intellectual young adult would. I ended up finding an article where some people were co-enrolled. It seemed legit, so it was enough proof for me to see that it was possible. I talked to both schools and sure enough they gave me the green light. Unfortunately, there are some caveats. You will have to go through some extra steps like filling out a Consortium Form to proof that you are taking classes at another school. And depending on how you set up your schedule, you could be doing a lot of commuting. For example, last semester I went to my university only Tuesdays and Thursdays. Then on Mondays and Wednesdays I would go to the community college. This semester I will be going to the community college Mondays and Wednesdays early in the morning. Then, from there I’ll be heading to my university class. Of course, I did give myself enough time to drive from the community college to the university. In the end, it all comes down to time management and communication. This could vary from school to school, which is why it is important to get informed first! If you have any questions on anything please don’t hesitate to ask/ message me on Instagram. This is something that worked for me and it’s not usually heard of. I just want you to leave knowing you have more options. 

If you don’t qualify for FAFSA and you live in Texas look into TAFSA! It’s basically the same thing as FAFSA, but the funds come from the state of Texas.