I'm 29 and starting college for the first time.?

I'm 27 and in about the same boat. I went to community college for a year and a half in California from 19-21, and just started at Arizona State this summer. My community college had what is called a transfer agreement with the Cal State and UC systems, meaning their classes met the requirements and were REGIONALLY ACCREDITED. Do not, do NOT attend a college that is nationally accredited. Their credits will not transfer. Contact the community college and UMass and find out if they accept credit from one another. You aren't the first person to do this, and they will know if they have transfer agreements with one another.

Once you've established your credits will transfer, you can either go to community college then transfer, which is going to extend your time in school. A lot of your major courses are taken in a set path over four years, so simply having the core classes won't necessarily shorten the four year timespan at UMass.

Alternatively, you can dual enroll, meaning you attend UMass and Community College at the same time. It can get tricky with schedules, but this is the best bet. My community college was 5 miles from Stanford, and we had a lot of freshmen and sophomores from Stanford dual enrolled to save money.

Finally, be sure to talk to the school about grants. UMass that is. Older folks (over the 24 year mark) are very much in demand by the schools. They want a broad student base with life experience, and as such try to get older folks in. ASU gives me a grant which helps a LOT with my expenses, and I wouldn't be able to attend school without it.

I'd say option 2 going to UMass Boston for both.

Unless you know that all your classes will transfer from the com college to the univ you're going to end up going another 4 full years at umass almost a 99% gaurentee.

Go to community college first, that's what I did. It saved me about $40,000 and I got the same degree in the end. After I graduated I had no problem finding a job because most realize that it just makes more sense to do it the cheaper way. A lot of hiring companies actually appreciate when you go to a cc, it shows you're well rounded and have had a different experience than everyone else.

I am a 22 year old college student at UNLV. I went straight to UNLV from high school. Taking a look back I should have taken all of my general ed. classes at the community college to save money. I feel like I wasted hundreds of dollars on learning things that I already knew (to me gen ed classes where a recap of high school) and I could have saved some of that money by going to the community college.

Congratulationson returning back to school many people do not.