A College Education is Affordable

According to The College Board, a nonprofit organization founded more than a century ago, a year of tuition and fees at a public school for state residents is nearly $10,000—not including housing or food. That number jumps to almost $25,000 a year for an out-of-state school and balloons again to just over $33,000 at a private college.

While a college degree can jumpstart a career in many fields, that kind of money can give high school students and their parents, or anyone looking to return to school, some serious second thoughts.

Washington State University Vancouver wants to change that way of thinking for students.

“When we talk about paying for college, it’s a funding puzzle,” said April Tovar, assistant director of Student Financial Services at WSU Vancouver. “Students and families need to be more creative than 15 – 20 years ago. They used to be able to take advantage of one thing, now they have to take advantage of several.”

“Everybody’s financial aid puzzle is different,” Brenda Alling, campus director of marketing and communications at WSU Vancouver, said. “But there is a way to complete the picture without racking up mounds of debt.”

Washington State University has more than 800 scholarships available. Some are system-wide and some are specific to the Vancouver campus. Grants, federal aid, work and campus jobs can fill in the gaps, allowing students to get their degree without getting into a financial hole. This aid is available to almost any student of any age, too.

“According to a survey by Royall & Company, 24 percent of parents think their kids will qualify for financial aid,” Alling said. “But 85 percent actually will qualify. I want to help more people to understand how a college education is possible. And that it’s worth it.”

Worth it in more ways than one. According to the Economic Policy Institute, college graduates earned 56 percent more than high school graduates in 2015. This gap is as large as it has been over the past 44 years according to the EPI. In addition, college graduates are being tabbed for new job openings sooner than their high-school graduate counterparts. There’s so much more though—studies (“It’s Not Just the Money” and others) find college grads are less likely to commit crimes and be unemployed. In short, they live longer, happier lives.

Two Degrees, Zero Debt
Stevi Warner, a senior earning double bachelor’s degrees in human resources and human development, will graduate in May of 2018. Warner transferred from Clark College, where she was a Running Start student, another great way to keep college debt down.

“I have a lot of freedom now because I don’t have to worry about my student debt. I can relocate for a job, I can take time off. If it weren’t for the aid and the scholarships, I’d be a lot more stressed out.”

Preparation Pays Off
The journey to little or no student debt started early for Tasi Salanoa. At McLoughlin Middle School, Salanoa entered the AVID program, which prepares students for high school and college. He got a College Bound Scholarship, established by the State of Washington in 2007, which offers financial aid to income-eligible students.

“In my household, from middle school through high school, it was always about going to college,” Salanoa said. “I come from a hard-working, low-income family. It was preached to have the grades up, and if you do well, you can have it paid for.”

Salanoa did just that and managed a partial scholarship to play football in Arizona. After an injury, he made the decision to come back to Vancouver where the College Bound Scholarship was still waiting for him.