As I continue to meet with high school juniors and their parents to counsel them through the college planning process, I am reminded of the different perspectives students and parents have about whether to go to college close to home or whether the student is willing to go to college further away from home. Sometimes this brings more anxiety on the parents because most parents would like to see their children more often so if they stay close to home, they know that opportunity is there. If they go to college further from home, they know they may only see their child during long breaks when they at least have a week off. Below is typically how often a student can expect to make it back home depending on how far their college is from home.
- 0-2 hours = Can come home on weekends
- 2-6 hours = Can come home on long weekends when you have at least Friday and Monday off
- 6-12 hours = Can come home on long breaks that are a week long and holidays
- 12+ hours = Can come home on holiday breaks or as often as they would like to fly home
First, I understand that staying close to home for college is important for some and I am not advocating for students to go further away to college if they do not think they would thrive academically, emotionally and spiritually. The feedback I do receive however when asking the question about how far away a student is willing to go to college is, “I need to stay close to home or commute because of finances”, or the student is willing to go far away but the parent is very hesitant to let them go away for personal reasons. If you as a student are willing and open to going further away from home to college, then please read the below reasons why this is a great thing to consider (parents, please consider this as well).
- By going someplace new on your own, you will inevitably gain more independence. It will be up to you to handle the small logistics you might be used to your parents managing on your behalf. For example, if you get a parking ticket or need to pick up a prescription, those responsibilities will fall squarely on your own shoulders.
- You’ll need to find your own way around a new region, locating the resources that you’ll need along the way, but as you do so you will grow in ways that you might not have otherwise. You will take on adult responsibilities and experience what may be your first real-world independence. You will make your own decisions and hold yourself accountable for them.
- Another benefit of going to college far from home is the opportunity to experience living in a new region. You might be exposed to new cultures and lifestyles. You might get to experience life in a big city or a rural town for the first time. You’ll get a chance to broaden your horizon. If you’ve always wanted to live in North or South Carolina, Texas, Southern California or the Rockies, this may be the time to make it happen.
- If you go to college far away, you will get a fresh start. Many students want the chance to reinvent themselves after high school, and when you go to college far away, you can create your new life from scratch. None of your high school mistakes or expectations will follow you. You can pursue new friendships, new activities, and a new lifestyle without the shadow of your high school self following along. For many students, this is a refreshing way to turn over a new leaf.
- Finally, and the reason for the title of this post, you could really benefit financially from going to a college further from home. Colleges always want to bring students to their campus from further away to diversify their campus with perspectives, cultures and backgrounds that they don’t have much of. They will give good money if a student has done well academically and is willing to travel from longer distances to come to their campus. A great example is a student of mine who was an upper-middle class caucasian, performed well academically, and received a diversity scholarship at a university in Georgia that payed for almost all of her cost to attend.
