How to Decide What School to Attend
Where Should I Go to College? How to Decide
Once you have decided to go back to school, you will need to narrow down your choices and decide where to go to school. This isn’t always an easy thing to do since there can be a lot of options. Here are some factors that can go into deciding where you should go to school.
Where You Live
Where you live is a huge factor in where you are going to go to school. You might only have one or two options and will have to either decide to go through them, or find other methods of going to college. The first step would be looking at what your local colleges offer and if they have programs or degrees that you would be interested in pursuing.
RELATED: BAH Rates
Do You Want to Go to School Online or Not?
Going to school entirely online can be a good option for service members, veterans, and spouses. These classes can be taken anywhere with an internet connection, including overseas. Being able to go to school online can allow you to take classes and get your degree, even if you don’t have any good local options or know you will move in the middle of completing your schooling.
RELATED:
What Your Military Installation Offers
Many military installations have education centers where you can take classes right on your military post or base. This can help with commute times, as well as flexibility. If you have this option, it can be the right choice when it comes to deicing where to go to college.
RELATED: Going to School On Installation
What Program You Want to Go Into
The program you want to go into will also make a difference on where you go to school. If you would like to get your degree to become a teacher, finding a school with a good education program would be smart. There could also be more than one school with a program you would want to go into, but you will need to spend some time researching the differences between them to find out which one would be best for your to pursue.
What Are the Class Schedules Like
When trying to figure out programs, or even the school in general, schedules can be a big deal. If you want to attend class in the evenings, you need to find a school that offers classes at that time. Not all of them do.
What the Rating of the Schools You Can Choose From Are
School ratings are important. You want to attend an accredited school, that has a good rating. You want to be able to learn, get an education, and not worry about employers not wanting to hire you because of where you went to school.
If You Can Move to a New City or Not
In some cases, moving to a new city is a must before you start school. In others, a PCS might put you somewhere new, and allow you to find a better program than in your old location. If you know you are moving soon, looking into colleges near your new city would be the best idea.
RELATED:
How Military Friendly Is the College?
Finding a military friendly college is a smart choice. A military friendly college will understand your specific needs as a veteran, service member, or military spouse. They will understand the GI Bill and will be a good ally in your years of going through school.
The Cost of the College
The cost of a particular college can be a factor. While most veterans will be using the GI Bill and other forms of educational benefits, going to a higher costing school can mean more out of pocket. Going to a community college can help you save money on your education and could be a good option for a lot of people.
RELATED:
Your Commute Time
Your commute time can be a factor in where you are going to go to school. You might be okay with driving an hour to go to class, but you might not be. Driving an hour to attend the perfect program might be worth your time. You can also look into hybrid classes so you do a lot of your work online and only have to attend class once or twice a week.
Spending time doing research on where you should go to school is an important thing to do. You will want to find out as much information as you can in order to make the right decision about where to go to college.
RELATED:
- Should Veterans Declare a Major Before Starting College?
- Choosing a School: What About For-Profit Schools
- CHECKLIST: Find the College that Fits Your Career Goals
- Back-to-School: How to Decide
About the author
Julie Provost is a freelance writer, and blogger. She lives in Tennessee with her National Guard husband and three boys.