College: It Costs Less Than You Think

Actually, college is less expensive than most people believe. In fact, it is far less expensive. Here is proof, drawn from a scientific poll conducted by the sociology department of a large Midwestern university.

In a scientific survey, a large public university in the Midwestern United States found that people were very badly misinformed about the annual cost of higher education. In fact, people overestimated the cost of a year of college study by about seventeen thousand five hundred dollars.

The survey group did realize that public colleges and universities are far less expensive than their private counterparts, but very few members of the group had any idea how relatively inexpensive online degree programs are. In case you do not know either, it costs much less to attend an online college than it does to attend a comparably based traditional institution of higher education.

Why are people so inadequately informed about college costs? Perhaps the colleges themselves are partially responsible for not getting their real costs out to the public. The media, however, also bare responsibility for focusing on the costs of institutions like Yale, Harvard, etc. while ignoring the far less modest costs of the majority of institutions.

Even when people are aware of the actual costs of tuition and other expenses, they are often unaware of the monies available to help them reduce those costs. Remember that few students pay "list price".

There are few subjects about which people make more uninformed statements than education. Investigate costs and financial aid very carefully, and confirm everything that you read or hear before accepting it as fact, much as reporters at major newspapers and magazines do.

Most important of all, do not rule out college because you believe you can not afford it. If you do your research, fill out financial aid forms, and work with the admissions and financial aid officers at the colleges you consider, you will almost certainly be able to obtain a college degree.

Jim Evans is an educational counselor who guides students wishing to earn an online degree or a traditional college degree.