Cal state? Which campus? Honestly, an associate's would take you plenty far, but I absolutely will not try to discourage you from your B.A. !!So I was looking into how to become an arborist, and the career site I found said you could so it with a BA in Horticulture. CSU offers that degree online, but it'll be $57,000 ;_; I have no clue if that's worth doing or not? There should be scholarships, but I've never been able to get any of the scholarships I've applied for in the past. Not sure if I should go for it or not - my mom thinks I might be okay. She thinks I'm young enough that the debt shouldn't hurt me too much?? I don't think 27 is that young lol
I may be able to help with scholarships and am OK at finding grants as well. I have my own academic load right now but will help if I can be of assistance. For my own part, I have been extremely adamant about NOT going into debt to get my education. I am almost halfway to my degree, and have been doing it at my own snail's pace (have 2 kids under 3, and 1 is special needs). Community college classes for the stuff I can do there, slow and steady, keep the GPA as high as possible. I get used textbooks (Craigslist has been a surprisingly good resource for these) or just buy the ebooks instead. Last year I was able to obtain grants which helped immensely. If you are set on being an aborist, I say go for it!!!! My major, while still agriculture related, is a little different but some of the classes are the same. I tell all my friends and family that I am paying thousands to get an education so I can be a broke @$$ farmer for the rest of my life, haha.
Enjoy your journey! And PM me if I can help in some way.