Editors's Note: This story has been updated to reflect the version that appeared in our weekly print edition.
This is the first in a weekly series comparing Ohio University to the other five Mid-American Conference universities in Ohio.
When it was time for Calley Cessna to decide where she wanted to go to college, she had a choice to make: go out-of-state and pay more in tuition or stay in Ohio and have a lower a tuition cost.
Despite opting for the latter, paying for college has come with a high price tag.
“I’m in debt like everyone else,” Cessna, a sophomore studying nursing, said.
Ohio University has the second-highest in-state and out-of-state tuition for a freshman taking at least 12 credit hours for the 2016-17 academic year of the six Mid-American Conference universities in Ohio.
In-state freshmen on OU's main campus pay $5,872 for tuition and fees per semester, and out-of-state freshmen pay $10,604 for tuition and fees per semester, according the university's website.
Tuition covers the general fee and instructional fee, though housing and meal plans are not included in that figure.
The six MAC universities in Ohio include OU, Miami University, Bowling Green State University, the University of Toledo, Kent State University and the University of Akron.
OU’s freshman class is the second group of students to be part of the OHIO Guarantee, in which the cost of students’ tuition stays the same for 12 consecutive semesters at Ohio University, Craig Cornell, senior vice provost for Strategic Enrollment Management, said.
“(They) will not see their costs rise over the next four years as they pursue their undergraduate degrees,” Cornell said in an email. “The OHIO Guarantee continues to be of great interest to our students and their families as it was designed to take the guesswork out of college costs and create a level-rate program, which provides predictability, transparency and assurance of costs as a student progresses academically through a degree.”
Cessna, a student who is a member of the class of 2019’s OHIO Guarantee, said she was not surprised to hear the cost for OU’s tuition ranked higher than that of some other MAC schools in Ohio.
The cost of in-state tuition played a role in Cessna’s decision to stay in Ohio for college, she said.
“I think (the higher cost of out-of-state tuition) is kind of unnecessary,” Cessna said. “A lot of my friends go out of state, and they have to live there for a summer away from their families just to gain residency so that it can be a little bit less expensive.”
The cost of tuition for Dottie Kramer, an out-of-state-student from Maryland, is more than $10,000 per semester.
“I looked at other schools in Ohio and they were way less expensive,” Kramer, a senior studying journalism, said.
She said the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism attracted her to OU instead of a less expensive university.
“It’d be nice if (tuition) was just a little cheaper,” Kramer said. “It’s kind of a shame that anywhere you go, you pay an arm and a leg for education.”
Kramer said it's not surprising Miami University is listed as having the highest tuition cost out of the six MAC schools in Ohio.
An in-state freshman taking at least 12 credit hours at Miami pays •$7,368 per semester, while an out-of-state freshman pays about •$16,278 per semester.
At the other end of the list, the •University of Toledo offers the lowest in-state tuition and •BGSU offers the lowest out-of-state tuition for the 2016-17 academic year for a freshman taking at least •12 credit hours.
In addition to ranking low for tuition, UT is also the lowest of the six schools on Forbes 2016 ranking of America’s Top Colleges. Similarly, Miami — the school with the highest tuition costs — ranked the highest of the six universities on the Forbes list.
Of the six schools, OU ranked second on the Forbes list, the same spot the university held for in-state and out-of-state tuition costs.
Even though Cessna said she wishes OU’s tuition was on the lower end of the scale, she thinks it will pay off eventually.
“In the end it’s all going to be worth it because you will have your degree and have a wonderful experience,” Cessna said.
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