by Katie Parkinson

For the past few years, college tuition (both public and private) has increased about 4 percent each year, according to college counselor Debi Hudson. However, this is not unusual and is even lower than the 8 percent to 9 percent increase students saw around five years ago.

Part of the reason for this increase is a decline in state and local financing for higher education, according to the annual report of the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. In 2012, this aid decreased 7 percent, and per-student aid dropped 9 percent from the previous year, the lowest level in at least 25 years. As a result, tuition and other fees have steadily risen from 23 percent of public university revenues in 1987 to 47 percent in 2012.

Due to the rising cost of a higher education, some students look for ways to offset these costs through financial aid packages, scholarship opportunities and in-state tuition.

According to Hudson, 69 percent of STA’s class of 2013 will be attending a public school, which is higher than usual. In general, attendance at state schools for STA graduates is consistent at around 55 percent to 60 percent.

One of the 69 percent, senior Makenzie Carter debated between the University of Missouri Kansas City and the University of Arkansas, but in the end she decided to go to UMKC.

“I am going to an in-state school because it is a lot cheaper than out-of-state,” Carter said. “I only applied to in-state schools or schools that offered in-state tuition for Missouri residents [because] college tuition prices are ridiculous. It sucks that I’ll have to work my way all the way through college and then continue to pay off student loans years after I’ve graduated.”

Senior Grace Doran agreed.

“My number one choice was the University of Kansas, [but] I am going to the University of Missouri because since I live in Missouri, it was a lot cheaper than KU,” Doran said. “College tuition is insanely expensive, and it is unfair to students that cannot afford to get a college education.”

According to Doran, at KU tuition is locked in at the price a student pays during their freshman year. This means every year, that students will pay the same amount of tuition, despite overall increases.

“In my ideal world, every college would lock their tuition price,” Doran said.

While the number of STA students attending state schools is up this year, Hudson pointed out that this is not the only response available to increasing tuition.

“Many private institutions offer substantial scholarship opportunities and . . . some top tier private schools offer excellent no loan financial aid packages for students that qualify,” Hudson said in an email.

Hudson also pointed out that other factors often go into deciding to attend a state school, including distance, location, family ties and choice of major.

“In my college search experience I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to major in, and I still don’t,” Doran said. “Because MU and KU are state schools, they offer basically all of the same majors, so almost anything that I would want to do would be available at either school. I chose MU because it was the cheaper option. I think the outcome may have been different if I actually knew what I wanted to do and KU offered it but MU didn’t, but since I am going into college undecided, MU was the better option for me.”