If you're researching the policies of a real school in South Dakota, it would help a lot if you included its name in your post.
Have you tried calling or emailing the school and asking about typical time to degree in that program, and if they have/had any special policies for housing students who are under 18?
There doesn't seem to be any housing. Since I don't actually want him to live in a dorm I will go with finding a room with a family, that seems to be an acceptable way.
Depending on the school and degree they might have a degree checklist which would list the classes they have to take to get the degree. Then you can figure out how heavy of a course load he would take, and then you can figure out about how long it would take.
I'm from North Dakota and went to a small college in the late 80s. I don't know if Watertown these days it at all similar, but in my school, even students as close as 30 miles away went home on the weekends. Why? No meal plan offered at the cafeteria for the weekends! If you decide your character will live in a dorm, check your college's meal plans!
Driving up to 200 miles round trip per day is feasible but exhausting. You want your character to finish his degree quickly but he won't be able to do that by spending all his spare time driving back and forth in the car. Also, consider the price of gas plus wear on the car.
Also, keep in mind winter weather in the Dakotas. Driving 100 miles in winter often isn't an option.
I also wonder how easy it is to be a full-time student at a two-year community college; by nature these schools cater to part-time students with jobs and other obligations.
And I still have a very difficult time figuring out why anyone would go so far out of his/her way to attend a community college that's not in his/her own hometown. IMHO, the primary reason to attend a community college is to get a degree without having to put the rest of your life on hold.
OTOH things might be very different in that area of the country.
It's actually very easy to be a full-time student at a community college; both my brothers are doing it, while working part time. It's no different than being a full-time student at a university. (I am also a full-time student, but as I'm a full-time distance learning student I don't count in this scenario; however, if I were attending on a campus, I would definitely be full time.) I have a third brother that attended community college full-time twice, for two different degrees; there are plenty of programs that are every bit as time-intensive as anything at a four-year university
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I've done the 4-hour-round trip routine, for work, and it's terrible. It makes the simple act of getting to and fro into a 20-hour-a-week part-time job. Add in the cost of gas and parking, wear and tear on the car, time lost that could have been spent studying, and the risk of accidents with that many hours on the road, especially in an environment of increasing fatigue
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Have you tried calling or emailing the school and asking about typical time to degree in that program, and if they have/had any special policies for housing students who are under 18?
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Driving up to 200 miles round trip per day is feasible but exhausting. You want your character to finish his degree quickly but he won't be able to do that by spending all his spare time driving back and forth in the car. Also, consider the price of gas plus wear on the car.
Also, keep in mind winter weather in the Dakotas. Driving 100 miles in winter often isn't an option.
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And I still have a very difficult time figuring out why anyone would go so far out of his/her way to attend a community college that's not in his/her own hometown. IMHO, the primary reason to attend a community college is to get a degree without having to put the rest of your life on hold.
OTOH things might be very different in that area of the country.
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