There are hundreds of colleges and universities out there, and there are thousands of students working hard to get into the schools of their dreams. In-state or out-of-state, public or private, each student has a different goal and an individual plan for their education.
Dream schools are the ideal school. They have everything students want, from the campus to the academic programs. Senior Tatyana Barrett hopes to enroll at the University of Colorado- Boulder and find a home away from home.
“I want to go there because it would be awesome to get out of North Carolina, one,” Barrett said. “Two, I want to go there because the campus is absolutely to die for. Also, the environment there, the people there, the attitudes there, I would say is a lot more like myself, and I think it’s just a totally rad place to live.”
Going away from home is a hope for many students, but there is a catch. Out-of-state tuition is often much higher than in-state tuition, and affording higher costs is not always attainable.
“It costs $53,000 a year to go to the school as an out-of-state student, so I’m probably going to have major student debt,” Barrett said. “That’s honestly the biggest setback.
Out-of-state tuition can be very high and can rival the costs of private institutions. Barrett says her best option for affording the tuition is to apply for as many scholarships as possible.
“I went to Boulder and I talked to the financial aid officer there,” Barrett said. “She suggested that I make a calendar and put scholarships on every month and do them as they come…. I’m currently filling out as many scholarships as possible to try and get there, and that’s definitely my goal: to get there.”
According to Courtney Cabe, the branch manager Vice President of the State Employee’s Credit Union (SECU) on Chatham Parkway, interest rates are actually cheaper from the federal government, rather than taking them out from SECU or other branches. Paying off loans is a burden for many students, and the amount of time it takes to pay them off ranges anywhere from five years to ten years or longer, depending on how payments were made. Debt is a fear for many students, especially for those attending out-of-state or private institutions.
Affording high tuition costs is a challenge at any school, out-of-state or in. An anonymous senior is under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals; a program she has to renew every two years to remain in the U.S. legally. Under DACA, the anonymous student is not eligible for in-state tuition in North Carolina, which changes the majority of her college options.
“I don’t really have a dream school,” The anonymous student said. “My situation is different than many people’s situations. I have to see where I get the most financial aid and basically go there.”
There are different ways students can handle the heavy costs of tuition. Senior Rose Krebs is considering a variety of schools, including Johns Hopkins University, a private institution in Baltimore.
“I’d definitely have to get a couple scholarships,” Krebs said. “I’d definitely have to rely on my parents. I’d have to rely on my job; I obviously don’t make enough to pay $60,000 a year. I’d have to take out a loan or two, depending on how much my parents could cover, but other than that, it’s still kind of up in the air.”
If scholarships or financial aid are not available for some students, transferring to a community college is always an alternative.
“Public schools don’t offer much financial aid,” the anonymous student said. “Right now, I feel community college would be the best option and then transferring to a four-year to save up money.”
Senior Austin Barnes wants to attend either the University of North Carolina-Greensboro or Appalachian State University. Along with attending community college, Barnes has created a new solution to afford his dream school.
“Me and my friends, we want to go to the same school, so we’ll save money by living together,” Barnes said. “By getting a couple of roommates together, we’ll save a lot. I plan to go to community college first and then do my last two years at a four-year college as a transfer. It’s a lot cheaper.”
Even if students can’t go to their dream schools, there is always a different option, or an alternative school they can make the best of. There are always other schools and new opportunities elsewhere.
“You really don’t know if the grass is that green on the other side, because that dream school may have not turned out the way you think it did,” Hunter said. “You never know what the future holds…. You have to remember there is a reality side to it, and you have to understand that if you didn’t get in, or you can’t go, maybe that’s what was best. Maybe that’s not the plan that’s out there for you. Maybe something else is going to open up at another school that you’ve never thought about… because you just never know.”
– By Leah Kallam
