As May 1 passes, seniors are forced to confront the reality of placing a firm commitment to a future home that is a complete 180 degree turn from their current isolated high school experience. With inflation rates spiraling worldwide, the escalating prices of higher education occupy a substantial weight in students’ final decisions, as a Bachelor’s degree could come at the expense of up to $300,000.

With the potential burden of paying college loans into one’s 50s, teenagers are becoming increasingly aware of the payoff, or lack thereof, of sacrificing a sizable portion of their future paychecks to an institution simply because of its name or reputation. The impact of having an Ivy or Ivy-esque institution written on a diploma, however, has not quelled with their subsequent lack of students choosing to attend these powerhouse institutions in the fall. 

Amidst the combination of record-low acceptance rates and stingy financial aid for any student who isn’t a legacy, seniors are looking elsewhere to continue their education with the confidence that their bill won’t nearly be as hefty. “It’s so much more feasible for me to go to an in-state school, like UMD, than a school like Rice or Duke, simply because of the financials. Taking out those loans wouldn’t make any sense in the long term since I need to get a Master’s [Degree] and a Doctorate on top of the Bachelor’s degree,” senior Marissa Liu said.

Considering that 33% of the Class of 2021 committed to the University of Maryland College Park, with an additional 10% committing to either University of Maryland, Baltimore County or Towson, staying in state for higher education seems to be an overwhelmingly popular and stagnant trend for students here. However, with the pattern of hundreds of seniors here alone committing to the same schools comes a heightened worry of the same stagnance that comes with going to an isolated, upper-middle class high school. “I definitely have some worries regarding seeing people that I know. I think college is such an important time to reevaluate your priorities and possibly reinvent yourself, and with a lot of my friends also committing to UMD, I think there will definitely be a part of me that will want to stick with my high school mentality,” senior Lindsey Walter said.

Nonetheless, dozens of seniors here are plagued with a heavy decision and a hefty price tag no matter what, either choosing to travel across the country and the world to secure their higher education, or acknowledging the fact that their selected price tag will travel with them anywhere they go. The Class of 2023 will go on to carry the Patriot values as they stretch from Texas and California to Canada and the United Kingdom. “I was planning on taking out the loans anyway, so when I got the opportunity to go to Georgia Tech and the financials would be the same as UMD, I happily took advantage,” senior Jahnavee Chakravarty said.

Thus, worldwide inflation, combined with the soaring need to earn credentials in higher education, results in the unfortunate truth that the prices of a college education aren’t going to plateau anywhere in the near future, leaving underclassmen to only ponder the cumbersome financial weight that could tug at their future post-high school endeavors.