NEW BRITAIN — Thousands of high school graduates will receive diplomas this month and are getting ready for college in the fall.
However high college costs are altering plans for many teens.
In just a matter of weeks, seniors at New Britain High School will start a new chapter of their lives. Fox CT spoke to two graduating New Britain High seniors who now are facing the harsh reality of loans and future student loan debt.
Yasmine Reyes will attend Tunxis Community College on a full academic scholarship.
“If I didn’t have any help, I don’t know where I would be. I would be very concerned about my future,” Reyes said.
She initially planned to attend the University of New Haven to study forensic science, but couldn’t afford the tuition since she didn’t receive enough financial aid. Reyes says she lives in a working class, single parent household.
“It’s definitely hard living with a single income, and that’s actually one reason why I decided to go to Tunxis,” Reyes said.
Nancy Rodriguez with the New Britain High School Career Center says with rising college costs, more than ever students need to look at the college price tag.
“With this economy the way that it is, students have to now really sometimes shop around, and sometimes that may mean looking at your state colleges,” Rodriguez said.
New Britain High senior Alek Glogowski first eyed Drexel University in Philadelphia, but couldn’t afford the private school’s annual tuition despite being offered a generous academic scholarship there.
“That school is $60,000 per year, so my $40,000 a year scholarship couldn’t even cover all of that, so that came into play why I didn’t go,” Glogowski said.
Glogowski is planning to attend UConn in Storrs on a full academic scholarship to study engineering.