By: Julia Xia, Opinions Editor

Deciding where to go to college is one of the most significant choices any student will make in their time as a high schooler. It is the next step in furthering your education, and you want to make sure you are picking the school that is perfect for you. For a lot of students, this means considering out-of-state schools, choosing whether or not to stay in the state they know best, or stepping out of their comfort zone and exploring what different states have to offer. 

When discussing out-of-state schools, the main issue that comes into play is the price. If you did not already know, the majority of out-of-state schools are more expensive than instate schools. This is due to a plethora of reasons. The first reason is that out-of-state public schools require kids to pay even more in tuition fees than if they were kids within that state. Public school funding mainly comes from state taxes, and the students going to colleges within their state have already contributed to funding their state’s public schools; since out-of-state students have yet to contribute to the school funding, they make your tuition higher to compensate. 

Fortunately, there are a few ways to lessen or even avoid these issues. A program called the Western Undergraduate Exchange details agreements that California has with certain out-of-state schools that lessen the need for more expensive tuition. Mills counselor Jonathan Fong provides more insight about the program. “There are about 160 schools across the country that are a part of the exchange. They basically say that even though you are an out-of-state student, you can apply to them, and they are not going to charge you out-of-state costs.” Colorado, Arizona, Hawaii, and Oregon are a few states with schools on this list. 

If none of the schools on this list interest you, you can still apply for financial aid programs like FAFSA and CSS for help. There are also many scholarships that you can apply for that will also help with your financial aid. 

Students have also raised other concerns about considering out-of-state colleges. “I feel like if I apply to a college out of state, I’ll really miss my family and feel homesick most of the time. I just don’t know if I’m ready to leave them,” Julie Martinez-Mora (12) says. 

Many college-bound students share this sentiment. The idea of moving to a different state and spending most of the next four years of your life there can be daunting; students could have personal family reasons that put them off to the idea of ever leaving, or they aren’t yet comfortable with leaving. While these worries make sense, leaving the state does not have to be all that scary. Moving to a different state for college opens kids to a plethora of new cultures and places they’ve never experienced before. Living away from your family also pushes students to be more independent and self-sufficient. Learning to live relatively on your own helps you prepare for the future. It teaches you how to handle issues yourself and makes you more conscious of how you live. 

Out-of-state colleges are something that every student should at least consider when applying for college. When it comes to a major, your state might have few schools that have the best programs for what you are interested in. Colleges in other states might have more in-depth programs for your major than colleges in California do not have. 

Another issue is that the schools in California that do have good programs for your major are too competitive for you or just need to fit into your image of a dream school. “Obviously, I want to apply to the UCs in California, but most of them are really competitive, and I want to make sure I have enough options if I don’t get into one of them.” Sara Meng (12).

Ultimately, it’s up to each student whether or not they want to go out of state; each student has their own priorities for the college they want to apply to. Sometimes, the state fulfills those priorities, and other times, the state does not. However, it’s always important to give yourself as many options as possible to ensure success in the future.