If the big sticking point is financing a college education, then Clepping out of the first two years may be an option. It's been a long time since I used CLEP exams for college credit, but unless things have changed drastically, there's no reason why a self-disciplined and motivated student couldn't manage it. One caveat: make sure ahead of time that the college you're interested in will accept CLEP scores.

In my day, you had to be past high school age to take the CLEPs, but apparently that has changed.

Good luck. I suspect the school is going to be pig-headed.