Tuition at San Jose State is $7000. Someone can live at home and get a good engineering degree gor under $40,000.
If a person goes to community college for 2 years, then they can reduce the cost of college significantly.
Of course, my son is in college paying out of state fees, so we didn’t choose the cheap route.
Also, a college student can save a lot by buying few of the expensive “required” textbooks. Most of the “required” texts are required by the college, not necessarily the instructor’s actual preference. Most college textbooks are little used, as the professors use their own accumulated notes over the years.
I have bad news for you:
The annual costs for a San Jose State incoming freshman will be $24,223 per year. (If he can live for free at his parents, it will only be $16,442.)