Even with financial aid available, out-of-state students are hurting more than their resident counterparts8212;some beyond a point they can endure.
Along with scholarships and grants, students can take out loans such as the Federal Perkins Loan and Stafford Loan. Both of these come in a subsidized loan option, which means interest on the loan will not begin to compound until after the student is done with school. But for some, the price of student-loan debt isn’t worth it.
Erik Olson, a former U student, is attending Washington State University-Vancouver in his hometown this year because he said he doesn’t want to take on additional student loans to afford the U’s tuition.
Olson, who was a freshman at the U last year, estimated that last year’s tuition, room in the Residence Halls and meal plan added up to more than $24,000.
Olson said he realized around March of last year that he couldn’t afford to return to the U without taking out private student loans8212;something he refused to do.
He did not have enough time to gain Utah residency before the next academic year, which would have drastically reduced his tuition bill.
Olson said last year made him re-evaluate his college plans.
If he could do it all over again, he said he would have started at an in-state school and saved money to go out of state later.
Olson studied meteorology while at the U, but WSU-Vancouver doesn’t offer this as a major, so instead he is taking classes that fulfill his general education requirements, while saving money to come back to the U, he said. He hopes to return next fall.
Other out-of-state students are trying to ride it out.
“Taking out loans is the only way I can afford to go to school,” said Henry Lopez, a sophomore in exercise and sports science.
Although loans help with tuition, Lopez said he is worried about the debt he will have by the time he graduates. Lopez said he is taking out about $6,000 in student loans this semester to help pay his out-of-state tuition. He hopes he will not need to take out loans once he gains Utah residency.
But David Bean, a sophomore in business finance and pre-law, does not have to take out any loans because, unlike Lopez and Olson, he is a resident.
He instead pays for school through his job at Best Buy. Along with the money he makes working, the store gives him $3,500 a year in scholarship money, a benefit the store offers to all full-time employees, he said.
“If I lost my job, I would take out loans as a last resort,” Bean said.
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