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MarissaTunning
Ms.Boes
English10
9March2016
PreparingfortheNextChapter
Assenioryearcomestoanend,mosthighschoolstudentsareextremelystressed.
Friends,family,work,andsportsallcometoanendandanewchapteroftheirlivesare
beginning.Manywillhavetomakethestressfuldecisionofchoosingacollege.Thefirststepin
findingtheuniversityofyourdreamsistodecidewhetherornotyouwanttogotoalargepublic
school,orasmallprivateschoolwithlesspeople.Doingresearchandfindingoutinformation
aboutyouroptionsarethebestwaytocreatethebestcollegeexperienceyoupossiblycan.Inthis
paperIwillcompareandcontrastbothprivateschoolsandpublicuniversities.
Formanyhighschoolstudentslookingtopursueasecondaryeducation,tuitionisabig
factorthatmanypeopleconsiderwhenchoosingauniversity.Typically,publicuniversitiesare
cheaperthanprivateuniversities.BusinessInsidergivesthestatistic,
Tuitionandfeesfora
publicfouryearinstitutioncost$20,823forthe201112schoolyearabout$8,000lessthan
privateinstitutions.(Woodruff)Formanynewcollegestudentsthat$8,000canmeanalotto
theirfamilies,whichisveryunderstandable.Itiseasytosaythatgoingtoapublicschool,
fundedbythegovernment,wouldbeabetterchoicefinancially,butoutofstatetuitionwillalso
bemorecostlythanattendingacollegewhereyoureside.Whenresearchingoutofstatetuition,
itseemedthatonaverage,goingtoaschooloutofyourhomestatewasmoreexpensive.Itcosts
almost$9,000dollarsmoretoattendauniversityoutofstate,whichcouldalsobeafinancial

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burdenforseveralstudentsandfamilieshelpingpayforthetuition.Sooverall,publicinstate
tuitionisthecheapestundermostcircumstances.
LikeIpreviouslymentioned,moneycanbeanissuewhendecidingonacollege.Most
schoolsoffersomeformofscholarshipsorfinancialaid.Eventhoughprivateschoolsaremore
expensive,theytendtooffermoremoneyonaverageinscholarships.Astatisticfromthe
CollegeSolutionstates,In2012,35%ofstudentsattendingapublicfouryearuniversity
receivedanaverageof$5,785inmeritscholarshipswhile55%ofthoseattendingaprivate
schoolreceivedanaverageof$12,274.(O'Shaughnessy)Privateschoolsalsogiveoutspecial
scholarshipsthatpubliccollegesdontcalledmeritscholarships.Theseareforstudentsthatdo
reallywellinschoolandgetoutstandingtestscoresandgrades.Dependingonwhatschoolyou
wanttoattend,itmightbepossiblethatwithseveralscholarshipsitisinfactcheapertogotoa
privateuniversityinsteadofpublic.
Transitioningfromhighschooltocollegecanbeanoverwhelmingchangeforstudents
thatcomefromsmallertownsaroundtheUnitedStates.Publiccollegestendtobeslightlyeasier
togetintosothereistypicallymorepeople,thuslargerclasses.Ontheotherhandprivate
collegesaremoreselectivewiththeirstudentsandhaveahigheronetooneratio.Eitherofthese
couldbegoodandbeneficialforcertainpersonalitytypes.Forinstance,ifsomeoneisoutgoing
theymightworkbetterinapublicschoolwheretheydontneedasmuchindividuallear
ningorif
theyaremoreindependent.Ifyouattendalargerschoolandfindyourselfneedinghelpinyour
classesAcademicInfobelievesyoushouldaskforhelpfromyourprofessors.Youwillneedto
workharderonfosteringthisrelationshipthanyouwouldataprivatecollege.(Neill)Ifyou
knowyoumightneedhelpwithyourclassesorwouldlikemoreguidanceinschool,aprivate

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schoolisprobablyyourbestoption.Neith
eroftheschoolsarebetterthantheother.Itmostly
dependsonthetypeofpersonalityyouhaveandthekindofstudentyouare.Ifyoudontbelieve
thelearningenvironmentwouldimpactyoureducationthisshouldnotbeafactorwhendeciding
betweenschools.
Atafewhighschoolskidsareallowedtotakecollegeclassesinordertosavemoneyat
theiruniversity.Theproblemsarisewhenthosecommunitycollegeclassesthatweretakendont
transferovertothecollegetheyareplanningonattendingoncetheyhavetheirgeneraleducation
completed.Privateuniversitieseachhavedifferentcreditingmethods.Iftheuniversitythatyou
choosedoesntworkforyouitmaybedifficulttotransferandretainallthecreditsyouhave
earned.(ProsandCons)Publiccollegestypicallytransfercreditseasierthanothercolleges.
Thisisbeneficialbecauseitmakesfurtheringyoureducationmorecosteffective,becauseyou
thendonthavetobuythebooksandpayforthatclassthatyouwouldneedtograduate.Some
privateschoolsdonttransferthecreditsfromclassesthatstudentsalreadyhavealreadytaken.
Whenthesecreditsdonttransferovertoanewschool,thatclass,oronesimilartoit,willthen
needtobetakenagain.Thiswillcostmoreinthelongrun.Ifyouwerechoosingbetweena
publicuniversitythatdoesnttransferyourcreditsandaprivateschoolthatdoes,youmustthink
ofthemoneyyouwouldbesavingifyouwenttotheprivateschool.Ifyoudonthaveany
creditsthatneedtotransferover,thisshouldnotbeafactorindecidingschoolsunlessyouintend
onswitchingschools.
Inconclusionmanystudentsareworriedaboutchoosingtherightuniversityforthem.
Manyupcomingfreshmanmakethemistakeoflookingatcertaincollegeswhentheyshould
narrowdowntheiroptionsfirst.AfterresearchingthispaperIlearnedtherearepositivesand

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negativesaboutbothpublicandprivatecolleges.Inmyopinion,goingtoapubliccollegewill
probablybebestforme.Iamagoodstudentwhocanhandledifficultclassesandtransferring
creditsisahugefactorforme.Ialsowouldlikecheapereducation.Ibelievethatdeciding
betweenapublicandprivateuniversityisthebestwaytofindthecollegethatwillbebestfor
youreducationinthelongrun.

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Woodruff,Mandi."PUBLICVS.PRIVATECOLLEGE:WhichIsBetterForYourWallet?"
BusinessInsider
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