@ucbalumnus I think the point is…a community college costs less to self fund. Having a job, and saving money for the last two years would be more likely if the first two years were less costly.
In this case…a CT community college is almost half the tuition cost of say Eastern Ct State University.
This parent had $15,000. The kid can take the $5500 Direct Loan. Plus maybe $2000 from school year and summer earnings before college starts. So that’s $22,500. If the kid gets a $5000 merit award from Eastern, the costs to attend there including the dorm would be covered.