By Kirk Carapezza

“We’re not actually going to know what the real picture is until students actually show up on day one of classes,” said Michael Horn, co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute and author of the book “Choosing College: How to Make Better Learning Decisions Throughout Your Life.”

“A lot of families have been saying over the summer that they can’t afford their first choice school or that they’re concerned about traveling far distances, given quarantines, and so families are thinking, ‘Hey, community college may be a better bet for the first semester — for the first year,’” he said.

The idea is to earn at least some college credits and then transfer them to a four-year school, if it will accept them.

“Oftentimes schools actually will not accept all those credits or they’ll put weird hoops around them where they say, ‘Oh, yeah, counts for credit, but not toward your major,’” Horn explained. “And so therefore, it actually doesn’t help you graduate on time.”