Thanks for checking out Ten Dollar Latte! I’m not a financial advisor, just a 27-year-old trying to afford life in NYC. I write about how I spend my money while enjoying a $10 latte.
May 1st, otherwise known as college decision day, is quickly approaching. I vividly remember the excitement when I graduated from high school in 2014—every day, someone new would post “[Insert university here] Class of 2018!!!” on Facebook (now I see these same posts on TikTok and Instagram). Meanwhile, I was biting my nails, staring at the spreadsheet where I detailed every fact about the schools I’d applied to, trying to decide which one to commit to.
Back then, the most expensive schools were around $65,000/year, all in—tuition, room and board, and fees. Now, that number is at $100,000/year.
Ten years ago, there was a lot less education about the cost of college and how much loans really cost over time with interest. You couldn’t scroll through Instagram Reels and see people sharing their journey on paying back student debt, and student loan forgiveness wasn’t at the forefront of political debates. The only education I got on the cost of college was from my parents.
Fortunately, my parents were on top of things. While they expected me to go to college, they were able to save enough money for me to attend an in-state university (at the time, tuition was around $10,000/year) and graduate debt-free.
I have to admit my privilege that my parents were able to afford to send me to a public university; however, I’m even more grateful that they taught me about the cost of college and what having tens of thousands (or more) of student loans would really mean for my future if I chose an out-of-state private university. They told me, sure, I could go out-of-state, if I got enough scholarships to make the school comparable or less expensive than an in-state school.
Naturally, I wanted to get as far away from home as possible, so despite the cost (and great academics and sports—in-state schools are great!), the in-state university wasn’t appealing to me. I was a seventeen-year-old who’d lived in the same state her whole life and never left the country. I decided to find a college where I could get enough scholarship money to make the school cheaper than in-state—even if the school was across the country.
I applied to sixteen schools, and many, many more scholarships. In the end, I chose a school 1500 miles away from home that offered me a scholarship that covered most of my tuition, making it less expensive than the in-state school. With my parents’ guidance, their financial support, and a lot of work applying to scholarships and schools, I graduated from undergrad debt-free.
Was college worth it for me? I can confidently say yes. I wouldn’t have gotten any of the jobs I got after college without my college degree. Not only that, but I went through so much personal development in college that I might never have experienced in a different setting.
Of course, that’s not the case for everyone, increasingly so. The cost of college is skyrocketing. And less and less people are choosing to attend college.
I was recently speaking with someone who is graduating high school this May. She was looking for advice on which school to choose. She told me that of the schools she’s gotten into so far, there’s one school she was very interested in, but thought she would feel ashamed or embarrassed to tell people that was where she was attending because they have an 80% acceptance rate.
So I’ll end this essay with the same piece of advice I told her—the best school for you isn’t the hardest one to get into. Sometimes it’s the one where you get a good scholarship. Sometimes it’s the one closer to home. Sometimes it’s the one that feels like home, even if it’s far away.
If you have any friends, cousins, nieces, nephews, kids, friends’ kids, whoever—biting their nails this month trying to decide which school to attend, share this advice with them. Whether they choose college or not, whether they choose the private school far away from home or the in-state school, the right choice for them often isn’t the most prestigious or what others will be most impressed by.
As always, reply to this email or let me know in the comments if college was worth it for you (or worth it for you not to attend, if you didn’t!).
Thanks for reading! I post weekly on Thursdays about living in NYC, personal finance, and growing my small business. I also post a monthly reset on the 1st of each month sharing everything I spent money on the previous month and goals for the next month. My small business is called Sidetracks—it’s a collection of party card games I designed. Grab a game to make your next happy hour unforgettable.
love this!!! I did the same, got a scholarship to a school where my tuition was practically the same as it would’ve been in state and it was the best decision I ever made ☺️
College was absolutely worthless career wise. It was totally worth it mentally. I love learning and the atmosphere of colleges. Even now, I would attend college all the time simply to learn things, if it was free. But it's not. So I don't. For my degrees, I did the on and off plan for college, meaning I attended when the timing was right.