I’m surprised no one has mentioned community colleges. My older son completed the first 2 years of college while he was still in high school by getting permission to take courses at the local community college, and his younger brother will do the same. They have had good, basic courses in English, History, Math and Science with little to no time spent on the professor’s pet causes.

In Texas, high school students taking college courses to fulfill high school requirements have tuition waved, so he got almost the entire first two years of college for free, but community colleges are a great deal even if you have to pay full tuition. Students can get a good start on a four year degree at community college, or students who are interested in training in a specific field can get a two year degree that leads to a job in a skilled field (IT, nursing, etc). Community colleges also offer students a great opportunity to explore different fields of study- they can take intro courses in music theory, accounting, or geology for a lot less than it costs at 4 year university. That course in accounting may start them on the road to a career as a CPA, or make them realize that they should pursue a different field- in either case, it’s a valuable lesson at minimal cost. Of course, the Ivies won’t accept credits from community colleges, but state schools do, and most employers just want you to have the bachelor’s degree- they don’t care too much where it comes from.

I hope more students and parents will start to look at community colleges as a way to get a good education at a reasonable cost.