Picking a future can be scary for a teen, especially while juggling high school work and worrying about the financial aspect of a dream university. But how big of a role should finances play when deciding which school to go to?

     After graduation, about 21.8 million high school graduates, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, will move on to a college or university.

  Based on a 2011 survey, 58% of graduates did not go to their first choice of college and 18% of those graduates did not go because of the financial cost.

  Every year, the cost of college increases. The percentage of growth rate of tuition depends on the type of school and whether it is in or out of state. Varying from 2.3% to 4.2% growth rates, a public four-year school is the most expensive, and a private four-year school has the lowest inflation rates; and that’s just tuition alone.

  The room and board increase also varies from 2.1% to 3.2%; the public four-year institution is the most expensive once again. With the prices increasing every year, it is hard to imagine how anyone can come up with enough money to make it through college and not come out with a massive amount of debt.

  Financial aid can be a savior for any college student struggling financially. During the 2012 school year, the government provided some sort of financial aid for 71.4% of full time college students; 47.4% of the 71.4% received a federal grant of some sort. The average student received $10,500 in federal grant money that school year. With all that in mind, it is hard to draw the line where a person asks themselves, “how much is too much?”

  According to collegedata.com, the average cost to attend a public in-state college was $22,826 for one year, including room and board, meal plans, and any other fees that may come with it.

  With that standard amount set at about $23,000 a college student should be happy to pay around that amount for tuition, and for anything less, the student should be ecstatic. That then brings up the question, “what is a good amount to pay for an out of state college?”

  The average cost to pay for an out-of-state four year university was about $32,000 according to collegeboard.org. With the $10,000 increase, the financial aid money the government would be giving someone would make the out of state college roughly the same price as the in-state tuition without aid, making it smarter to just attend an in-state school.

     Attending an in-state college could be worth it if one wanted to visit family more often, gain a cheaper tution, and see familiar sites, otherwise, out of state is the way to go; it will be hard for an adult to actually grow up and mature when parents are always close to the student.

  So when is one option better than the other? According to Fox Business, if a change in environment is needed, out of state would be the correct choice, visiting could then become a challenge; depending on the location of the university. Independence is also gained by attending an out of state college, the student is farther away from their family, forcing them to grow up and mature a lot faster than say, someone who stayed at home. The complete opposite goes for staying at an in state college, and maybe even staying at home.

  Sometimes deciding which college to go to takes some self-evaluation and deciding what a student really needs compared to what they want.