Community colleges offer an economical first two years of higher education, but you have to make sure you don't spin your wheels taking classes that won't transfer.
For many right out of high school that don't mind living with their parents another two years, a freshman and a sophomore year at a community college is a way to save money.
Consider, as an example, attending Northern Illinois University. Including the cost of tuition, books, room and board – you'll pay more than $26,000 for a year at NIU, according to the school's Web site.
At Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove, you can take a full load of classes for two semesters and pay about $2,000 in tuition, an official in the admissions department said.
But, with the savings in mind, Waubonsee officials are urging students to visit a counselor at least once before the start of a semester to make sure they're enrolling in classes with credits that will transfer to the four-year college or university they would like to attend.
The State of Illinois Board of Higher Education in an Oct. 7, 2008, report said an articulation initiative is in place that encourages credit transferability among state-funded schools.
The articulation agreement in Illinois has been meticulously compiled, said Jamey DiVietro, a student counselor at Waubonsee.
As a rule, private colleges accept fewer transfer credits than state universities, DiVietro said.
"It can get to be tricky," DiVietro said. "Some colleges you transfer to don't want the associates [the two-year degree offered by community college]. They just want you to take coursework that would go toward their bachelor's degree."
DiVietro stressed the importance that a student stay in touch with a counselor.
Adrienne Faber, a 26-year-old student at Waubonsee, was in DiVietro's office Thursday afternoon, discussing her future.
Faber had 56 credits from Waubonsee. But a number of them were painting, ceramic and drawing classes from when Faber was majoring in architecture.
She changed her major to nursing. All the credits, even the art classes as electives, will count if she transfers NIU, but those same art classes won't count at all if she transfers to Aurora University.
"I'm not sure where I will go next year," Faber said. "I've got two years of college left. I may go to Aurora because it's closer. I live in Aurora."
DiVietro said he scans the colleges' Web sites to check up on credit transferability and will call the university directly if a student has a question that can't be answered by merely scanning the articulation tables.
"With proper planning, our credits will transfer to any accredited four-year college or university in the nation," said Kelli Sinclair, dean for counseling and student support at Waubonsee.
"At Waubonsee you save money, but it's also good for students who don't know what they want to do career-wise," she added. "You can come here and figure out what you want to do.
"More than half of college students in the United States are enrolled in community colleges."
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