Many students graduating from high school are pretty excited to go off to college. They believe it’s finally the time that they’ll be free from their parents and life will be so much easier. What students often don’t understand is college is another step into the real world. We’ll have to be committed to our work because at this point, there will be no one pushing us to get things done. There are two main factors that many students deal with before, during and after college. Those are tuition and debt.

It feels like we’ll probably be paying off debt for the rest of our lives.

I am a junior at Manual Academy, and I plan on attending Ohio State University. It’s a pretty big university, and it will give me the chance to travel outside Illinois and get comfortable in a new environment with no family or friends around. The big problem that is stopping me from pursuing this goal is tuition. Since I am out-of-state, I am expected to pay $42,959 for tuition, room and board, books and supplies, as well as other expenses. Yes, I am aware that there are many scholarships available, but there is a chance that I may not receive enough scholarship money to pay my tuition. I am also aware that Illinois Central College has a free two-year program with Peoria Promise, but I’m not really interested only because I’d rather start at a four-year college, build a relationship with professors and students and get comfortable with the university rather than transferring later.

According to National Public Radio, Illinois public colleges and universities have gotten large funding cuts and are owed millions of dollars in state aid and reimbursements. As a high schooler in Illinois, I have read articles about schools canceling sports and extracurriculars due to funding. That makes me think twice about going to an in-state college.

Hillary Clinton has talked about making debt-free college available to everyone and liberating the millions of Americans who already have student debt. She wants to lower interest rates because she says, “Your education is an Investment.” Her plan is to decrease student debt for those who still owe money for their college educations. Many people would finally stop stressing about how they will pay off their debt.

I’m not ruling out attending an in-state college or university. I’m very interested in the University of Illinois in Champagne-Urbana as well as the University of Illinois in Chicago. I will most likely have a back up plan. But we have a great opportunity to lower and prevent student debt.

Janet Rodriguez is a junior at Manual Academy in Peoria.