Beginning your college search? Don’t rule out your local college just yet…
Searching for the right college can be stressful and time consuming. Between figuring out what career you want to pursue and how you’re going to afford the costs of going to college, this important moment of your life can make your head spin in circles. Oftentimes, students shove the opportunity of going to their local college out the door without considering the benefits of staying home. If that’s you, take a moment to reconsider that option. Your younger self may hate you in the meantime, but your older self may be telling you it’s the best decision you ever made. Obviously, every student’s situation is different in several ways from scholarships to family income, but if you’re someone who knows their local college has the program they want, you should highly evaluate the option you have to stay close to home. Here are the five reasons why you should consider staying local for your college education:
#1: You save yourself a lot of money
If you were to move out to go to college, consider all the extra expenses you’d be paying compared to someone who stays home for college. That usually includes the dorm, your meal plan, and a school medical plan (to name a few). For these three expenses alone, you’d be easily paying at least $10,000 a year. Not to mention, out-of-state students usually pay more than students who live in the state. This is money that increases your debt out of college.
The money can be invested towards your tuition and textbooks for example. Dorms can be unsanitary, and you never know what other students can be doing in your room when you’re gone. You have to share a bathroom with many people, so there’s always a risk of having to wait a long while to shower. You have to question, is it really worth going through that hassle if you can get your degree at a local college while staying home?
#2: A lot of classes are still offered online
Covid forced classes to become fully remote. After the pandemic, remote classes have remained highly popular between both staff and students. It allows for so much flexibility in your schedules and saves so much time. Many campuses across the country still offer hybrid or fully remote classes. Does it really make sense for you to move into a campus that offers most of your classes hybrid or remotely? Why pay the extra money when you can stay at a local college that probably still offers remote classes. You’d be saving yourself money and time, both of which many people wish they had more of on a daily basis.
#3: A degree is worth a degree
It’s very likely that you’ve grown up under the impression that you need to go to a very well-known college to be successful in life. I was one of those people, until I met an employer that told me that to them, a degree is worth the same no matter where you went to school. What matters to them is someone’s personality and the value they can add outside of their degree. If you’re going to major in something, the courses and content are probably going to be very similar at most colleges. The workloads may be different, but at the end of the day, if you majored in something and got the same degree as someone from another college, that degree is worth the same to an employer.
You’re more likely to get your dream job through the network you build in your life rather than the college you studied at. While it is impressive to get into an Ivy League school or other big campus in the country, it won’t define what path you’ll take. What matters is the student, not the school.
#4: Most Employers Will Pay for your Post-Graduate Education
Nowadays it’s quite common to see employers offer to pay for their employee’s master’s degree or other education they need to obtain a license or anything they need for the job. That post-graduate degree is worth more to them than your undergraduate degree. The best part is that most of the time, these post-graduate degrees can be obtained from popular colleges like Harvard or NYU or UCLA to name a few. So, if your dream is to attend classes at some of those high caliber campuses, you may be able to do so through your employer in the future, and for free. That to me sounds like a win-win!
#5: You Have More Support from Your Family
If you’re living in on your own in a dorm, you have to take responsibility for your own things at all times. This is great, of course, but there will be times when you could use the extra help to not worry about cooking or buying takeout, to switch your laundry from the washer to the dryer, to take out the garbage, etc. Living with your family can be a big help from time to time. I’m not saying to let them do everything for you all the time but allow them to take care of you when they can. A simple ironing of clothes from your mom or a simple lunch from your father saves you one less thing to worry about. Every family is different, but I’m sure most parents out there will help their children’s lives be easier when possible. The comfort of being home where you grew up is also an advantage to most students. They don’t see there’s no place like home for no reason.
As mentioned earlier, every student’s situation is different. They may choose a career that requires them to move out for college. They may have more financial flexibility than others. If you have a local college that will provide you with the education you need to get your undergraduate degree, you should consider staying home for college. You may find it annoying to stay home, but in the long-run I can promise you you’ll be happy you at least considered your local options before making one of the most important decisions of your life.
