How to Save $ on the First Two Years of College

College is expensive.

But here’s something a lot of families overlook: You don’t necessarily have to take all four years of college at a four-year university.

In fact, the first two years may be the easiest place to save a tremendous amount of money.

Look at the typical freshman schedule. English composition. College algebra. History. Psychology. A foreign language.

At a large university, you might pay thousands of dollars to take one of those classes with hundreds of other students.

Meanwhile, your local community college may teach essentially the same course—with 20 or 30 students—for a fraction of the price.

Community colleges are one of the great bargains in American education.

Tuition is usually substantially lower, classes are often smaller, and professors are generally there primarily to teach.

Take your basic courses there, live at home if possible, and then transfer to the university where you actually want to earn your degree.

Instead of paying university prices for four years, pay them for two. That can save tens of thousands of dollars.

There is one big catch: Do not assume your credits will automatically transfer.

This is especially important if you plan to major in engineering, physics, chemistry, computer science, or another program with a carefully prescribed sequence of courses.

Before taking a community-college class, contact the university you eventually plan to attend and ask:

Will this specific course satisfy this specific requirement for my degree?

Get the answer in writing, if you can.

Don’t spend a semester taking Chemistry 101 only to discover that your university wants you to take its version of Chemistry 101 all over again.

If you can take the same class locally for a fraction of the price, why pay university prices?​________________________________________________________________

Almost every Saturday, I send out a Tip of the Week.  The tip of the week is usually something I have picked up along the way that may make your life a little easier.

If you would like to hear from me (almost) every Saturday, just go to the home page of my site and plug in your name and email.   You will also get a free digital copy of my book on learning Latin (and almost anything else).  Just go here: https://dwanethomas.com/ and enter your name and email.

If you want to buy the digital book instead (because you just feel like buying me a cup of coffee) go here: https://dwanethomas.gumroad.com/l/fzixlh

If you are interested in learning Latin, you can go through the classes on my site 24/7.  I recommend the book Lingua Latina by Hans Ørberg.

If you tackle the book and find yourself bogged down, you may find the classes on my site helpful.  To join, just click here: https://dwanethomas.com/join/

If you want a more professionally filmed Latin learning experience, check out the best-selling DVD series: Visual Latin.

Or, if you want to skip Latin, and just jump right into learning English words from Latin and Greek roots, you may enjoy the series Word Up!  Warning.   Word Up! is a bit wacky.  You will learn a lot… but, you may find yourself rolling your eyes, too.

I teach other languages on my site, too.  The current schedule is here: https://dwanethomas.com/schedule/

By the way, some of the links in this post are affiliate links. Not trying to pull a fast one on you. I only promote what I believe in. Not only that, but commissions from affiliate links allow me to continue offering training and books at low prices and sometimes free.