Loads of people do the CC -> UC route in California. The last two years has seen something like 25,000 students transferring from a CC to a UC per semester.
Look, I did CC -> State University as well and it served me okay. But you are ignoring the fact that the university could not exist if all students went that route. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Somebody HAS to pay the full price or the University system could not continue to exist in its current form.
Sure, but I was not arguing against that. The tone of your comment made it sound like the OP was an extraordinary case, when in reality tens of thousands of students save money in the same way. (including yourself!)
If I'm not mistaken, UC gets only 13% of it's budget from tuition [1]. I believe this is up from previous years. The CC -> UC route is a very good one - and should be taken guilt free if one decides to go that route.
Many top and higher mid range universities make the majority of their money from things that aren't tuition. My university was making more money from real estate than it was making from domestic tuition fees.
