A dramatic blog post from 17-year-old me

Hi y’all —

Do you remember choosing a college? What was important to you? Was it a specific major? Good dining hall food? Winning sports teams?

Personally, I recall really wrestling with my decision — so much that I blogged about it. Here is an actual quote from a post I wrote in February 2010, in the thick of admissions season:

“I have no idea what the hell I am going to do. I don’t know if I want to stay in-state or go out; private or public; big or small; rural or urban. I’m like the worst student ever because I’m open to everything. How am I supposed to choose? *nervous emoticon*”

(Yes, I opted to write out “nervous emoticon” rather than actually insert a nervous emoticon.) (I was 17. Nothing I did made sense.)

Ultimately, I chose the University of Florida: It was 2 ½ hours away from home, and, crucially, I got a hefty scholarship. But today's high schoolers have different priorities. For Money’s recently released Best Colleges package, I did a deep dive into how Gen Zers — people born roughly between 1997 and 2012 — are approaching the college decision process. I interviewed real teenagers (and their families) about their experiences.

Once you've read what they had to say, see below for the experts' take.

How do students choose colleges these days?

Laurie Kopp Weingarten, president of One-Stop College Counseling, sees the trends firsthand. She tells me that while some are unsurprising — teenagers reliably demand comfortable dorms, tasty dining-hall food and bathrooms they don't have to share — others stand out.

For instance, the New Jersey-based Weingarten says she's noticed an uptick in geographic limitations lately. Some students are flat-out refusing to consider colleges in conservative Southern or Midwestern states; others are putting a heavier emphasis on diversity.

"I will occasionally see, like, 'Texas is good people.' That's in direct contrast to a lot of our students saying, 'I'm taking Texas schools off the list,'" she says. "It mostly seems to be related to politics ... I've never had so many students eliminate parts of the country like that."

(A survey of prospective students last year supports what she's seeing: 1 in 4 students reported eliminating colleges for political reasons.)

At the same time, Weingarten's students are gravitating toward cities over rural areas because they think they'll provide better internship possibilities and, eventually, jobs. This tracks with other trends she's spotted, like the fact that many of them are drawn to entrepreneurship and aren't impressed by core curriculum that touts a broad, general education.

Underneath all of these contemporary considerations, though, is a tale as old as time: money.

The cost of college has surged in the past 20 years. According to the College Board, the average published sticker price for tuition and fees at a public, in-state four-year university was $11,260 for the 2023-2024 academic year. Private colleges, meanwhile, posted an average tuition sticker price of $41,540.

And that's before housing, food, textbooks, transportation and the like are added in.

Of course, not everyone pays that price. Tuition discount rates recently hit a record high, and federal and state aid can help offset the costs. But "money does come into play," Weingarten says, often serving as a tiebreaker when her families — who often don't qualify for federal support and must rely on merit aid — are trying to choose between two schools.

"Some parents will be like, 'We just want them in a really good college, we're not going to worry about it,' and then all of a sudden, the numbers start coming in," she adds. "They kind of change their tune."

The choice to go to college, and where, is becoming an increasingly stressful decision because of the potential for student debt. Americans hold $1.6 trillion in outstanding student loans: a burden that's made many question the true value of a degree.

Money is absolutely the No. 1 concern in the Hammond, Indiana, school district, says college and career coordinator Lydia McNeiley. The population is dominated by minority and low-income families whose kids will be first-generation college students, so she's hyper-focused on getting them the resources they need to make an informed decision.

Speaking broadly, America's youth value postsecondary education. In survey results released last June, 65% of respondents said they believed some education after high school is necessary.

But they're worried about paying — and the payoff. In a separate poll, only 53% of college-bound Gen Zers said they think they can afford college.

Still, McNeiley spends a lot of time talking to her students about fit factors beyond cost. That may sound counterintuitive, but because college is such an immense financial investment, finding the right fit for Hammond students has become more important than ever.

McNeiley teaches her students about Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-Serving Institutions, which she says offer them a unique focus on cultural experiences, robust community support and the chance to be surrounded by students and faculty who share similar backgrounds. She walks them through the basics of office hours, dropping classes and where to find help in different languages. She surfaces colleges with robust LGBTQ+ resources and mental health programs that she knows will appeal to them.

Rather than defaulting to the school down the road, she wants the students to take the time to find a college that resonates with them.

Cost is critical, and choice of major is important. But beyond that, McNeiley says they need to ask, "Am I going to be happy here? Am I going to want to thrive here? Am I going to find my niche here?"