Save 40% on Tuition and Fees for a "Flagship" University Degree

Jun 21, 2011
John Willingham

University of California at Berkeley - flickr

Going to a community college for two years can save more than 40% in tuition and fees for students who eventually graduate from a flagship university.

You have the test scores, a great high school GPA, but you're family isn't rich and you're not quite in the elite group of high school grads who can get a free ride at your state's "flagship" university. You have heard the alarming stories of other students who have gone far into debt, something you are determined to avoid.

But if you had a chance to get that flagship degree with a 40 percent discount in tuition and fees, you'd probably take it, right?

That is exactly what you can do if you attend a community college for the first two years, make the high grades that you are accustomed to earning, and then go on to obtain that degree with all the prestige and contacts that come with it.

Three Examples

Let's look at three states--California, Texas, and Florida. In California, tuition and fees for two years at a community college are only $1,248 for residents. The same two years at UC-Berkeley would cost you $22,600 in tuition and fees alone.

So run out the numbers and you find that the 2+2 option (two years of community college + two years at Berkeley) would cost you a total of $23,848, while four years at Berkeley would run $45,200. That's a savings of $21,352 over four years, or 47 percent off the full Berkeley sticker price.

Approximately the same cost saving percentages hold true for Texas and Florida. In the Lone Star State, the 2+2 option saves $15,630 over four years at UT-Austin, for a savings of 41 percent. Florida, a state that has a strong commitment to the 2+2 option, the savings over four years at the University of Florida is $8,040, or 40 percent. (Florida enjoys low tuition and fees at both community colleges and the state flagship.)

The cost savings are even more impressive when the interest that would be owed on student loans is taken into account. A UT-Austin student who has to borrow the $15,630 to attend all four years, versus attending a community college for two of those years, will end up paying an additional $4,190 in interest on a 10-year Perkins loan at 5% interest. The College Board site that calculates repayments shows that the actual total cost would then be $19,550.

According to a U.S. News article, the average student loan indebtedness upon graduation in 2009 was $21,000, only $1,450 more than the hypothetical UT student would have to borrow to pay for extra tuition and fees alone.

It’s Still about the Grades

Bear in mind that the 2+2 option will work for you only if you are a highly successful student during your community college years. Even though the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Berkeley reports that transfer students account for about one-third of fall admissions, the GPA range for these transfers is 3.62 to 3.98.

The “Be a Longhorn” site at UT-Austin says that a 3.0 GPA is a “minimum” requirement for transfers, but cautions that many departments and programs have much higher standards. According to the University of Florida Admissions Office, all transfers must have at least a 2.0 GPA.

Yes, it is true that students have to give up the excitement of the first two years on campus at a flagship university if they pursue the 2+2 option, but if they attend a community college close to the main campus, they can still enjoy many of the same activities and develop friends with whom they will one day share the satisfaction of being an alum of the best-known university in their state.

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