^^Ditto. I was actually shocked to find that within the group of kids that my older son knows (GATE, honors, AP kids) who had all been in school together since kindergarten) not one of them went directly to a UC. A couple went the community college route to save money, others took merit offers or sports scholarships, and some took advantage of WUE tuition exchange in lower cost states. Full pay at a UC is between $32,000 and $35,000 per year (per child) and since the more popular campuses are located in very expensive areas there is not much hope of reducing costs by living off campus.