HS junior thinking about community college - attend HS outside of USA

Bottom line, in my opinion:

  1. Community college can be the most affordable alternative for students who already live in the US because they generally qualify for in-state tuition at their local schools. They can live in the same family home where they attended high school, commute to community college for twp years, then transfer to a 4-year school where they pay in-state rates.

That isn’t true for someone who has to move to the country. And often it is difficult to establish residency for tuition purposes if the primary reason you are in the state is to attend school.

And, as others have noted, some medical schools do not give full value to math and science courses taken at the community college level. And 4-year schools typically give more aid and scholarships to first-year students than is available for community college transfer students.

  1. For the reasons above, your best bet is probably to attend a 4-year school with generous aid to students with financial need. You have already begun to use the Net Price Calculators to determine which schools will give you the most. Be sure to check to see if the final cost is what you are expected to pay AFTER you take federal student loans or not so you can do an accurate side-by-side comparison.

  2. You asked about your mother’s taxes, which is not really an area of expertise on this site. But I would note that if her income is low enough, she would not be required to pay taxes anyway. However, there can be penalties for failure to file forms. Here is a website with some general info, but she should contact a tax accountant for accurate advice: