Broad horizons

MAT-SU — With college application deadlines approaching, high school seniors in the Valley who want to go Outside to college face a question familiar around the country: Can I afford the out-of-state college price tag?

While each student and situation is different, high school counselors can offer some standard advice about how to make educational migration more affordable.

James Zimmer, counselor at Palmer High, understands that. “Kids want to go and experience something new and have that typically college experience of moving away from home, but the cost is a big disadvantage.”

Taking a cue from what other Alaskans have found affordable, students may get an idea of where to begin their search.

According to Zimmer, Valley students attend a wide variety of schools outside of Alaska, but there are some colleges and universities Valley students regularly choose.

“University of Idaho did a big-push advertising up here, and all the schools in Washington and Oregon are always popular,” said Zimmer. “University of Nevada at Reno and Northern Arizona University remain favorites as well.”

These schools remain popular because they are all members of the Western Undergraduate Exchange program. The WUE program offers reduced tuition to students who are residents of one WUE state but attending school in a different participating state. Participating states include Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

With the skyrocketing costs of tuition in Alaska and around the country, the WUE makes attending an out-of-state college more of a possibility for many students. According to the statistics provided on the WUE 2008 report, 1,610 Alaska students took advantage of the program in 2007.

“More students are becoming aware of the Western Undergraduate Exchange Program,” said Colony counselor Kristen Langhoff. “As tuition for local universities continues to increase, it is possible for tuition to actually be cheaper if students go out of state using certain WUE programs.”

Tara Muray, senior at Colony High, met the requirement for the WUE at the University of Nevada at Reno and was automatically qualified for the program.

“The WUE helps,” adds Jon Mastroyanis, a classmate of Muray who is attending Northern Arizona University in the fall. “It definitely makes it more affordable.”

The program is not without its caveats, however.

First, the availability of the WUE program varies widely by school to school, and there are often limitations on majors and admission requirements. For example, it is often harder to take advantage of the WUE at larger schools, according to Langhoff.

“Schools that do a pretty good job of filling seats with students from their own state take less popular majors and fill them with WUE students, but some are totally open to all majors,” Langhoff said.

Langhoff reminds students to research schools and programs beforehand. Luckily, the WUE runs a website [wue.wiche.edu] with a database of options searchable by both location and degree.

There is another reality of out-of-state colleges that all Alaskans know too well: transportation costs. Even with the reduced tuition for the WUE schools, the transportation costs are always going to be well above the estimate, reminds Zimmer. Families have to consider the cost of flights when deciding what they can afford.

Scholarships always help reduce costs, and many students take advantage of benefits for children of military families. Colony senior Bethany John is using her father’s benefits to lower the price of Montana State University, and classmate Bob Wise is going to look into other scholarships offered by the University of Idaho.

Another cost-cutting option Zimmer suggests is an out-of-state community college. These smaller schools often provide students with partial or even full tuition waivers based on athletic or academic achievements. The student gets two years of the college experience, after which they can continue on to a larger university in the same state (cost allowing) or can return home and finish in the University of Alaska system.

Wherever students decide to go, and however they decide to get there, the most important thing, both Langhoff and Zimmer agree, is to continue education after high school.

“The basics are the basics anywhere you go,” Zimmer said, “but the important thing is to just go.”

Contact Todd Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.