This is one of the reasons community colleges exist. I went to a community college for 3 years before transferring (had a kid @ 19), ended up working there, and

This is one of the reasons community colleges exist. I went to a community college for 3 years before transferring (had a kid @ 19), ended up working there, and had my first startup born out of that job. Almost all of my comp sci courses were at night because the students worked and so did the professors. Our professors were DoD Ada/C programmers at Vandenberg Air Force Base (which was quite awesome having professors with real-world experience). Community college is a great option for working adults. That's why they have so many night classes (and now online classes). In California it's not free but it's extremely affordable and there are plenty of grants available. Like a University, there are also plenty of on-campus jobs that can work around your schedule (I ended up with a campus job that was funded by a grant and paid 3x minimum wage). There's also plenty of vocational options as well–the nursing programs at the CCs near me are often impacted because people are getting jobs as soon as they graduate. My point is, I don't really agree with your premise (granted, the system isn't perfect). If you work full-time, you might not be able to transfer or graduate in exactly 2 years but you can definitely do it.