Private or public?
In- or out-of-state?
Two-year or four-year…?
Such early decisions regarding college are complicated. While higher education comes in all shapes and sizes, one idea remains clear: Most students go to college. For Hoover graduate Sara Bauer, who attends Kent State University, choosing a college involved staying close to home.
“I’m a very family-oriented person,” she said.
Hoover graduate Dee Hazzard agrees and said that there are many perks in attending a local school – including tuition savings.
“It is definitely less expensive,” she said. “I worry about money a lot.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, the cost of tuition for a four-year college or university grew 5.7 percent nationwide, and the price of four-year private schools escalated 5.6 percent last fall. Experts predict these numbers will continue to rise.
Because of the escalating prices, Hover Guidance Counselor Mr. Jim Wyckoff said that he’s definitely noticed the shift of more graduates attending Ohio schools rather than those that are farther away.
“[Tuition cost] didn’t seem to be as important maybe five years ago as it is now,” Wyckoff said. “More kids were willing to go out of state, but now, because of the current economic situation, I’m finding that kids are staying closer to home.”
Hoover sophomore Amanda Steinhebel is planning on attending college in a few years, and agrees that a smaller school with a more focused learning environment would be more beneficial.
“I don’t want to go to a big party school—I think it’d just be a waste of time,” Steinhebel said. “I’m not a fan of the whole Greek thing.”
Steinhebel is planning on majoring somewhere in the science field, but is not certain on the specifics. However, Bauer said that majoring in education was an easy decision because she has always wanted to be a teacher.
“I’ve always liked working with kids,” Bauer said. “I feel like being a teacher I can really help them.”
With a passion for sign language, Hazzard found it a natural choice to major in sign interpreting.
“I want to be an avenue that the deaf can use to be in the hearing world and not feel so isolated,” she said.
Wyckoff said that he acknowledges the fact that choosing a major for college sometimes is not easy, but he also stresses that there’s no need to panic.
“The best thing to do is select a school with a wide variety of programs, because your first year is going to be just studying required courses anyway,” he said.
Hazzard said that her advice for future college attendees is that if they don’t have a specific major in mind, they should at least pick a college that they feel like they want to attend—a lesson she learned from experience.
“You don’t want to decide right away, but you should definitely make a firm decision on where you want to go because if you don’t, your time is going to run out,” she said.
Hazzard said that since choosing a college had been a problem, her current situation conflicts sharply with her imagined ideal of her post-high school life.
“At first, I didn’t want to go anywhere close to me at all—I wanted to be in a dorm with my friends,” she said.
Now, even though she continues to live in the area, Hazzard said that she still sees the glass as half full these days.
“Things just didn’t go the way I’d planned,” she said. “Kent is something that just happened to me. But now I can go to school and stay home at the same time.”
In contrast to Hazzard, Bauer said that she enjoys living in a dorm.
“It’s just easier to live on campus,” she said. “And I get to interact with other people in the dorm.”
Steinhebel said that she also wishes to live in a dorm.
“We’ve lived at home for the last 15 or 16 years, so I feel like we need to get out,” Steinhebel said.
But however strong her desire to leave her hometown, Steinhebel said that she would only consider going to an out of state school if it were relatively close.
“I still want to be able to drive home and visit every once and a while,” she said.
Lastly, Wyckoff said that his advice for seniors planning on attending college is to work hard and maintain good study habits—and not to be bitten by the senioritis bug.
“Finish strong, enjoy the last few weeks of your senior year, be proud of what you’ve accomplished and look forward to your future,” he said.