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__Editorial: To Stay Close or To Not Stay Close__

Not all Hopewell students voluntarily go to a college that is close to home. Two main factors come into play when deciding on a college: money and parents. Many Americans cannot afford the steep tuition payments that are plaguing the nation. In the current economic turbulence, affording college has become more difficult. Student loans are creating student credit deficit. Also another factor as to why some students choose to attend school closer to home is that their parents are not ready to have them sprung into the world of adulthood so many miles away. Therefore restrict their places of interest. However, some students feel like they are not ready to leave the nest and travel so far away, so in return they choose to attend school close to home for their own benefit. Receiving a post-secondary education is anything but cheap. A driving force behind why some students choose to attend a school in state and close to home is money. Public institutions generally charge in state students significantly less than out of state students. Also the colleges look at in state student applicants before they move onto out of state applicants, increasing the in state students’ chances. Tuition payments are not the only monetary factor that can be financially debilitating to an individual. Attending school far away means getting to and fro is going to be expensive. Whether is a plane, train, or bus ride, nothing comes cheap. A round trip from NJ to California is typically $600 (Travelocity). That money will add up over time. Transportation costs are another definitive factor in deciding on a school. Another factor in why some students choose to attend a school close to their homes is parents. Out of the 50 students interview, 38 of them said that if money and parents were not an issue, they would attend a school that is more than 300 miles away. That’s 76% of the allotted survey participants. Some parents are unwilling to send their children hundreds of miles away for the first time. Leaving home is a difficult adjustment, but leaving far enough that a plane ride is necessary to get to and from school is another issue in itself. Some parents would like their child to be closer to home for at least the first two years of college because by then they will hopefully be acclimated to concept of living on their own. Money and parents aside, some students just don’t feel ready to leave their comfort zone completely. Leaving home for the first time is a rite of passage, but it is also an intimidating concept because even though you are still dependent on your parents, you’re on your own socially. Some students would like to be able to be home in a few hours if there was an emergency or if they came down with a case of homesickness. A final possibility for why some students choose to attend school close to home is this: maybe they really just fell in love with the school. You don’t have to go hundreds of miles from home get the college experience. It is possible that they really just love the school and want to enroll as soon as possible. There is a menagerie of reasons why some students choose to attend college close to home. And just like students who do the opposite and go hundreds of miles away, it works for them.

__Book Review__

__A Smart Parents Guide to College: The 10 Most Important Factors for Students and Parents When Choosing a College__ By Ernest and Paul Boyer

Summary: The authors go into detail about what to look for when choosing college. This guide hammers out the important questions that parents and students have regarding the applying-to-college procedure and helps quell any concern the reader has.

Rating: http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Parents-Guide-College-Important/dp/1560795913/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308187432&sr=1-3 No customer ratings have been tallied at this time.