All throughout high school, a student dreams of graduating and being able to go off to college. Students must work their hardest to be able to meet the requirements to get into certain colleges. These requirements include making good grades, joining clubs, and making good scores on the SAT and ACT. Parents encourage their students to achieve good grades all throughout high school, so their grade point average will be high; then the student will be able to get into a good college.

“When I entered high school, my parents told me that it’s important to make the best grades you can,” Freshman Charleigh Lowry said, “in order to get into the best college.”

Most students aren’t able to attend out-of-state colleges because the cost for out-of-state residents is much higher than for in-state residents. The reason is because citizens who have lived in the state have been paying taxes as long as they have been residents, but the people going to the out-of-state colleges  do not pay the various taxes to the state that they attend college.

“I’m interested in mostly out of state schools,” Junior Kennady Poling said. “If the tuition for out-of-state residents was lower in more out-of-state colleges, I would definitely consider looking at a few more.”

Even if somebody is not able to get into an out-of-state college, there are plenty of options in Texas to consider. In Texas, big colleges, like Baylor and A&M, are harder to get in to. Even after a student is accepted into these colleges, the tuition could be considerably high without scholarships.

“My parents paid for my college tuition before I was born in what’s called a ‘Texas Tomorrow’ plan, so my tuition is completely paid for all four years at any Texas school.” Senior Kieran Hanlon said. “However, scholarships are great for me to have for covering the expenses of room and board. I have revived a scholarship at Baylor that fully covers my room and board, along with most other minor expenses.”

The Texas Tomorrow plan allows parents to pay for their children’s or grandchildren’s college tuition years in advance. That way, parents don’t have to come up with the money on the spot.

Colleges make tuition higher for out-of-state residents, so the students that live in the state have a better chance of going to their colleges. Louisiana State University (LSU) is fairly easy to get into, but the tuition is very expensive for out-of-state residents. If a student isn’t able to get a scholarship to LSU ,then it may be too expensive for them to go to LSU.

“There are several colleges that would be great,” Poling said, “but the tuition and fees are so high that you would only want to go to if you had a scholarship.”

Even though the price of college tuition is already high, the cost is steadily rising.

“I think tuition is ridiculously high,” Hanlon said, “and the sad part is, it increases a little every year at most colleges.”

America encourages it’s citizens to go to college to get a better education than high school. Colleges make their tuition higher, so they can get the right students into their college. If the college makes it’s tuition higher then the college is able to choose more carefully who they want to go to their college.

“Tuition is too high,” Junior Caleigh Ramsey said. “The cost to get an education shouldn’t be so expensive since everyone in America should get a college education.”

The issue of college tuition has moved politicians to discuss how to make it more affordable. President Barack Obama discussed making community college available to nearly every citizen. The candidates for the election of 2016, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O’Malley, have discussed plans to increase federal funding for colleges if they are elected, as well.

“Yes, college tuition is high,” Junior Reeves Moseley said, “but there is no way it can ever be made free.”

There are many scholarships that colleges offer to students. If a student’s parents are divorced or they need financial aid, colleges offer scholarships.  Students’ grade point averages and SAT/ACT scores will ultimately help them get scholarships also.

“A lot of colleges have a very high priced tuition,” Junior Halee Van Poppel said. “It would be a lot of money to pay unless you had a scholarship.”

If the student makes good grades, they will normally be able to get some type of scholarship. No matter what college a students goes to, they will be sure to get the best education offered, even if the tuition for the college is high.