The CC route is a wonderful gift just for living in California.
It’s something to get excited about.
So many graduate with significant debt. That ties you down to not be able to do things when you start earning money.
These kids start in a much better position.
It’s hard to understand at 17 but at 25 you’ll realize what a smart move it was.
I see a few possibilities for you to consider.
You will get your college degree, one way or another. It just might be a more round about way.
CSU’s consider local admission area status as part of their application review. The most cost effective CSU would be the CSU within commuting distance.
Here is the local admission area link: https://www.calstate.edu/apply/counselor-resources/Documents/CSULocalAdmission-ServiceAreas.pdf
As stated by @tsbna44, if you are eligible for Cal Grants, then CSU tuition/fees would be covered. Living on campus would be an additional $15-20K which may be partially covered by financial aid. You need to run the Net price calculators for each CSU campus you want to apply and see how the estimates align with your college budget.
Please note that if low income, you could qualify for more financial aid at a UC instead of a CSU, so you might want to run the NPC for a couple of UC campuses also. Estimate your aid | UC Admissions
I did it specifically for Chico and it was around 15k. I’m not sure how much cal grants would pay outta this. my UC gpa’s based on calculation were below the required 3.0 unfortunately
It seems Berea college has no tuition and pays for every student admitted based on a work deal, but it is low acceptance rate
Yes, you won’t get in. There’s Questbridge too but your odds are infinitesimal.
Whatever you do - you have a 2.8, not a great SAT. Get with an advisor to make sure the classes you take are on point to transfer. Go to office hours. Don’t take classes that you’re not ready for. Repeat what you’ve taken again if needed, especially in math. You likely will need a stats and research class but you may need calc somewhere.
You’ll have work to do. So once you get where you are going, don’t take it for granted. Help will be available to you and take advantage.
That’s likely the Cal Grant. For you, it’s not going to cover living unless you are a Foster child. Then it might help.
Thanks for specifying (to give us real data rather than assumptions but also for yourself) and for doing the NPC.
You need a 3.0 GPA to qualify for the Cal Grant A that helps with tuition.
Berea is mostly for kids with a 3.7 GPA (3.5 at the very least) and it’s in Kentucky, which is very queer unfriendly.
UCs would likely be difficult frosh admits with the OP’s HS GPA (and not an option if it recalculates below 3.0). But if the OP does well at community college, they may be more realistic in transfer admission.
Yes, CC-> UC is likely the most inexpensive path for OP and UCs are topnotch so getting a degree from there would be an excellent outcome for OP. 
Dang it
Yeah it goes below the minimum threshold
If you do well in CC (All As and Bs, mostly As) your HS record won’t matter and you could get into a UC, even more than one. UCs offer financial aid to help cover tuition, room, and board (aka housing&food) whereas CSUs only offer help for tuition. As a result, transferring to a UC would be cheaper than transferring to a CSU ..but you need to have the Excellent grades UCs require.
I’d say keep your eyes on the ultimate goal. One of my kid’s friends who had a GPA similar to yours went to CC and ended up graduating from Berkeley. CC will not only be cost-effective but could be a new academic start as well.
How would the price factor be for a transfer? I know obviously it’s only 2 years minimum attending but would anything be different about the financial aspects of it? How would the housing work?
Would Santa Barbara city college and living nearby with roommates and then a transfer to UCSB be an option for this student?
How would I go about the roommate situation though?
And it’s Santa Barbara.
To answer your other question - let’s say Chico is 15k a year including to live.
But now instead of four years, it’s two. Now with inflation, maybe it’s $17K a year - but instead of $60-70K, now it’s $35-40K for two years.
If you work in the summer and part time during the year, you can put money away, etc.
You might need to live off campus, which sometimes is cheaper than in a dorm.
As for getting a roomie off campus, you’ll likely need credit or your parents will need to co-sign and if they don’t have credit, that might not work. But that’s in a few years.
I know it is popular but I guess I meant like the obvious steps to it (yeah I know I’m pretty misinformed and naive when it comes to things like this)