On December 16th 2013, I packed up my bags, turned in my keys and left Fordham University in Manhattan for good.
On December 16th, 2013 I packed up my bags, turned in my keys and left Fordham University in Manhattan for good.
I knew I was taking a big risk when I left New York City behind to embark on a new collegiate adventure, but what I didn’t realize was the level of inquiry that my decision to transfer would bring.
After spending three grueling semesters mentally debating on whether to finish my journalism degree at the private Jesuit university I was at or back in Ohio. I finally made the decision to transfer to Ohio University. As I announced my departure, I was somewhat taken aback by my classmates and professors’ immediate, accusatory questions of “why?”
Why leave a selective, private institution to attend a public university with a higher acceptance rate? Why trade in small class sizes for a 20,000-person student body? Why leave bustling New York City for a middle-of-nowhere college town?
My reply was a dumbfounded “why not?”
According to the annual Project on Student Debt report released in December 2013 by the Institute for College Access and Success, the average college graduate obtained a degree in 2012 with $29,400 in student debt. When the same study was conducted in 2004, the average amount of student debt post-graduation stood at $18,750.
A $10,000 increase over a period of 10 years shows that student debt is a very real issue for college kids today. At Fordham, the tuition is a hefty $44,450 per year. Although I am grateful that my parents are in a financially stable position, it left them paying for my degree at full price. Add in the $16,000 paid annually for room and board, and my family was looking at $242,000 for my bachelor’s degree.
But in this economy, even a degree that costs nearly a quarter of a million dollars doesn’t come with the guarantee of a job after graduation. When I considered E.W. Scripps School of Journalism’s prestige combined with OU’s price tag for in-state students, the decision to transfer was a no-brainer.
Or at least I thought it was a no-brainer. The shocked reactions from my peers and professors opened my eyes to some of the stigmas that can come along with leaving a private university to attend a state school.
But contrary to the concerns of some of my classmates at Fordham, life at OU isn’t all party and play. My journalism classes last semester were some of the most rigorous, time-consuming courses I have ever taken. That’s why I agree with Joi Gorden, the CEO of Dress For Success and graduate of the University of Oklahoma, when she says, “People underestimate state schools. Yes, law school at Yale is a prestigious and wonderful program, but why come out of school with six-figure debt if you don’t have to?”
Simply put, state schools offer students more bang for their buck. Just because tuition costs are lower for in-state students at public universities does not mean state schools’ programs should be considered “less than” the programs offered at private schools. For just a fraction of the cost for a year at a private university, state schools are able to help alleviate high amounts of debt while still preparing their students exceptionally well for the work force.
Just ask Roger Ailes, Clarence Page, Richard Dean Anderson, Leon Harris, Peter King, Matt Lauer and the many, many other successful graduates of Ohio University.
Yes, that’s right — a state school.
Maria Fischer is a junior studying journalism. Do you think public schools are better than private schools? Email her at mf628211@ohio.edu.
