Using Transferable Course Credits to Reduce Your Total College Tuition Expenses
Written by Arting Chang, Kristina Lee
This article is ideal for undergraduate students looking for ways to lower tuition costs while also finishing pre-requisite courses.
College tuition* rose 32% at the University of California over the last year, and 32% from 2008 to 2009 at the California State University system. Since the ’01-’02 school year, undergraduate registration fees rose an alarming 94% in the CSU system, and 92% in the UC system. Couple that fee increase with the floundering economy and the ever so tight budget that so many households face today, and you get an avalanche of financial problems primed and ready to fall. So what can you do to reduce this looming financial burden?
High School Students: Take AP classes and exams to gain college credit before you even leave high school, putting you one step ahead academically, and financially. Extra credits allow many students to graduate on time in an increasingly impacted school system, or even early.
High School and University Students: Take community college classes, also known as transferable course credits. These can help you save money now, and can give you a head start on requirements. This is especially advantageous for those students applying to the overly popular capped majors, and those who are double or triple majoring – graduating on time or early is a sure-fire way to save big money.
So how do these transferable course credits work? You take a University approved course at your local community college, which you can use to satisfy some University requirement. Lets dig deeper:
To see the benefits of transferable college credits, just look at the math!
Cost for In-State Undergraduates
Cost for Out-of-State Undergraduates
UC Berkeley Summer Session 2010
$292 / unit
$292 / unit
UC Berkeley 2010-11 School Year
$6,230 / semester
over $300 / unit
$17,670 / semester
over $900 / unit
compared to….
Cost for In-State Undergraduates
Cost for Out-of-State Undergraduates
Diablo Valley College
$26 / unit
$185 / unit
Berkeley City College
$26 / unit
$190 / unit
So there’s your proof: taking community college classes can save you a significant amount of money!
But before you go hurry off to sign up for classes, take a few moments to stop and think of a few things:
Acceptance: Make sure your university accepts community college credit transfers. Some colleges, especially private universities, do not.
Research: Check to see which community college courses are acceptable substitutes for those university requirements you are wishing to satisfy before you take them. For instance, the Haas School of Business allows breadth, but not Reading & Composition or Core classes, to be taken at community colleges.
Check Assist.org: It’s a great website that allows students to see how courses taken at one California public university or community college can satisfy class or category requirements at other California public universities. Also check your university for their own personal website that allows you to compare which classes transfer to which classes at community colleges.
Of course, there are always pros and cons to go with any good deal.
Pros
Cost Factor: It’s cheap, and if you attend the local community college, you can live at home with your parents for free(ish)!
Grade Booster: Community college classes may be graded on a different scale or system than university classes, and thus may be useful to “pad” your GPA.
Load Balancer: Summer classes at the local community college can help to lighten the academic year load, helping double majors to graduate on time. Take one of the many online classes offered, and you can easily take a class while still holding an internship or summer job.
Cons
Course Contents: The difficulty, and sometimes quality, of classes often vary from one community college to another. It’s up to you to decide what you value, and how the level of the classes you wish to use as transferable course credits match up to your expectations for your college education.
Requirement Substitution: If you switch majors, transferable course credits that satisfied requirements for one major may not satisfy any for your new one.
So lesson of the day? If you want to save money, give those transferable course credits some serious consideration.
*Tuition does not technically exist, but it is used in lieu of, an sometimes interchangeably with Registration Fees. As The University of California is a “Publicly Funded” University it is illegal to charge tuition.
This is a very smart trick. I have been taking classes in a local JC since my senior year in high school and they have saved me more than a semester worth (currently a sophmore) of GE classes at UCSD. My estimate is that it will save me an entire year worth, which isn't cheap these days!
This means graduating in 3 instead of 4 years. Do your math and you will know how much it really means to finish up the general classes at a discount rate.
College tuition* rose 32% at the University of California over the last year, and 32% from 2008 to 2009 at the California State University system. Since the ’01-’02 school year, undergraduate registration fees rose an alarming 94% in the CSU system, and 92% in the UC system. Couple that fee increase with the floundering economy and the ever so tight budget that so many households face today, and you get an avalanche of financial problems primed and ready to fall. So what can you do to reduce this looming financial burden? 
Pros
Comments
This means graduating in 3 instead of 4 years. Do your math and you will know how much it really means to finish up the general classes at a discount rate.
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