[quote=CA renter]I’m following you up until the point that the savings becomes negative with a $40K job. How does the eventual income differ between a CC-to-CSU/UC graduate vs. a four-year CSU/UC graduate?
When you graduate from a CSU or UC, your degree looks exactly the same, irrespective of whether or not you spent your first two years at a CC or the CSU/UC.
One more thing…most CC students also work (often full-time hours), which is why they usually take longer to graduate than the CSU/UC students. IMHO, this work experience is far more important than graduating one year earlier. In my experience, it was my work experience during the college years that opened all the doors, not the degree. I was already “in demand” — during a recession — with recruiters calling me with very lucrative offers by the time I graduated…all because of the reputation I had built up while working through college.[/quote]
My assumption, after you get your BS/BA, you’ll be making the same amount, regardless if you go to CC or not. I also assume it takes 5-6 years to graduate going through CC + UC/CSU vs 4 years going straight to UC/CSU. I also assume you want to retire at the same age. So, lets say going straight to UC/CSU and you retire at 62, you have 40 working years in your profession. Lets assume it takes you 1-2 extra years in CC, you’ll have 38-39 working years in your profession. That’s where I get the negative $40k from. This is assuming you make the same amount with every year of experience regardless of going straight to UC/CSU or going through CC.
You’re assuming students who go straight to UC/CSU don’t work. I worked 20-30 hours a week while I was at UCSD during the school year and 40 hours a week during the summer and still was able to graduate in 4 years. My work experience was in my area of study (software engineering). That makes a huge difference. There’s no way I could have gotten those working experience if I was in CC w/ no major. In my profession, working any odd jobs won’t do you any good. However, after your 1 year in your undergrad w/ your major, you can apply for internship, which means A LOT more.
