As a student, I’m well aware that money plays a huge role in my education.
I’ve got a nice pile of loans waiting for me when I graduate, but sometimes it’s easier to just pretend they don’t exist. Unfortunately, I’m brutally reminded every time I check my email and see the subject line “Quarterly Interest Statement Available.”
The thought of having to deal with my loans someday makes me want to curl into the fetal position and hide under my blankets for a few days. But because I have daily responsibilities, I have to carry on with my life and face my financial challenges head on.
We all know it: College is expensive. Getting an education is extremely important, and the opportunity should be available to as many students graduating high school as possible. Sometimes, it really is all about the money. Without money, going to college isn’t feasible.
The financial burden of going to college is scary enough for students paying in-state tuition. On top of tuition fees that are already too high, students looking at schools out of state can have thousands of dollars added to their debt.
For some, going to college out of state is completely out of question.
Being a Louisiana resident, LSU is the only school I filled out an application for because I knew I couldn’t afford going out of state. With TOPS and in-state privileges, going to LSU was the only decision that made sense financially.
While LSU is a great school, and I’m thankful for the quality of education I’m getting, I would have loved to at least have had the opportunity to apply to other states. There’s a lot to learn from going to a new place.
Frankly, I think there are different colleges in the U.S. that would’ve been perfect for me in locations that better fit my lifestyle and goals. It’s important to be exposed to different locations and ways of life. There’s nothing wrong with being born and raised in Baton Rouge and still choosing to go to LSU, but exploring a new location exposes you to new perspectives.
Out-of-state tuition fees limit student opportunities. It leaves high school graduates in a seemingly binding contract to live in the same place for four more years, and it bars some new students from coming in from new places.
I’m sure there are plenty of students who would’ve loved to come to LSU if it weren’t for the out-of-state fees. Sadly, money and location are the two main factors that college-related decisions are based around.
Why should the place your parents live have such a large impact on your tuition? After all, it’s not our parents who are going to college, it’s us — the students. And students should be able to make decisions that aren’t restricted by factors they have no control over, like what state they went to high school in.
Universities should strive to create the most diverse community possible. However, most of the people I’ve met at LSU since I started college are from Louisiana.
No matter where you choose to go to college, you’ll mostly be surrounded by students who are from that state, and it’s mostly because of out-of-state tuition. Nobody wants to pay it.
Instead of making choices about education around personal benefits, students are forced into restrictions because of out-of-state tuition fees. If we’re all investing in a higher education, we should have a say in how and where we do it.
Shirin Chowdhury is a 20-year-old English junior from Manhattan, Kansas. You can reach her on Twitter @ TDR_schowd.