savings

We just saw this in the Spokesman-Review (the regional paper for the second-largest city in Washington, which is just 15 minutes down the road), and we definitely thought it worth sharing:

Demetrius Dennis shopped carefully to find the best college education for the lowest price.

“I reviewed the departments, programs offered and cost of tuition,” said Dennis, 34. “Financing contributed at least 75 percent of the deciding factor when I chose a transfer college.”

The Lakewood, Wash., resident had already saved about $20,000 on a bachelor’s degree in journalism by attending Pierce Community College before determining Eastern Washington University offered the best value to finish his studies.

EWU “provides the most reasonable tuition-to-education ratio available in the state,” Dennis said.

You can read the whole article about the rising cost of college tuition and the challenges that today’s students and families face.

By 2018, at least 63 percent of all jobs nationally will require a postsecondary degree, which means college will be necessary for more and more workers.

As states have cut budgets, however, college has grown more expensive, forcing students to be extra savvy when they make their college decisions.

Our goal at Eastern is to make an amazing college education as affordable and accessible to as many talented people as possible, which is why we’ve had fewer and smaller tuition increases than most universities in the state.

Without sacrificing innovative programs like justice studies, psychology, dental hygiene, education or engineering, we’ve quickly become the state’s best value in education … and our students are smarter than ever. Our average incoming freshman GPA went up again this year (from 3.17 to 3.24), which means we’re attracting more and more talented students who see the incredible value in what Eastern offers.

We’re glad Demetrius compared colleges, and we hope you’re doing the same. We’d love it if everyone made their comparisons and decided that Eastern was the best place to be (because it is!), but more importantly, we want you to choose the university that’s best for you and your future.

Wherever you go, we’re here to answer any questions you have along the way.

In my glorious undergraduate years (back before I could grow the few scraggly facial hairs I now call a beard), I met hundreds of alumni who came back to campus to reconnect with the school they had called home. One of them told me that when he had gone to school, tuition had been just $25. I didn’t believe him.

“Oh, not for the whole year,” he said. “That was for a semester. It was $50 for the year.”

Amazingly, this is completely true … and it’s not like we’re talking about an era before electricity or running water. People had cars. Rock and roll. Sliced bread even. It was the golden era of education, and for a long time in the United States, tuition to most state universities was free or next to free. In fact, it wasn’t until 1956 that Eastern started to charge tuition at all.

Things have certainly changed. Governments pay less for education than ever before, and that forces students and their families to pay more.

Eastern has always focused on providing the best possible education to its students and to making that education available to as many students as possible. That’s why we’re the best educational value in the state of Washington, and it’s why students who study here save thousands of dollars in tuition and fees compared to other public schools in the state.

One of the ways students can reduce tuition is a program called WUE.

WUE is an acronym for Western Undergraduate Exchange, and it’s pronounced so that it rhymes with “chewy” or “screwy.” Repeat the acronym fast enough and you start to sound like an ambulance.

(Admit it: you’re trying to sound like an ambulance right now. WUE WUE WUE.)

WUE is a financial aid exchange program that lets out-of state students from 14 western states (AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, ND, OR, SD, UT, WY) save thousands of dollars on tuition at Eastern. Over four years, students can save $25,000 or more when they study at Eastern.

There’s an important deadline (Feb. 15, 2012), a GPA requirement and a residency requirement, so there are some details you’ll need to check out if you’re interested in making WUE work for you.

Here’s the best place to get started with WUE information, but we always encourage you to call or email with your questions so that you can talk to a real person about your particular situation.

WUE. WUE. WUE. WUE. WUE. Completely sounds like an ambulance.

savings

Making every tuition dollar count

Saving money on tuition with WUE