College Fears: Rational or Not?

At this point in my life I am starting to look at colleges, and I am wondering what kind of college is right for me. I will try to get as many scholarships as possible, but if I do not get enough I will need student loans. This article, "What We Can Learn From For-Profit Colleges," got my attention and made me skeptical to even consider for-profit colleges.

I think for-profit colleges are way overpriced, and I can get an education that is just as good at a public college for a much cheaper price. When I first read the article I discovered that in the last ten years the number of for-profit colleges have increased by "60%." Judging by the way I feel about these colleges I am really confused about how this happened. As I read more of the article I started to understand the reason behind this: "people don't realize their options." Without realizing that there are better options, a person is just going to agree to whatever comes along. That makes me genuinely sad.

I usually do not click on extra links on articles like this, but I did this time and it took me to this page. I didn't get much out of the text, but the video on this page made me furious. There were so many cases that the student was lied to about the amount they would have to pay. But the worst part was that some of the advisers wouldn't let the students know how much they would need to pay until they enrolled into the college. I was completely blown away by this; to me that would be like committing to a marriage without knowing the husband. Towards the end of the video one of the advisers actually rips up a student's application just because he wants to know how much he is going to have to pay.

The thing that scares me the most about this is that it really happens. I could be tricked into paying way more than necessary to go to college. This isn't going to stop me from going to college, because a post-secondary education is way too important for that, but this definitely will make me more cautious when making my college decision.