As  high school graduation approaches, seniors are beginning to make their college commitments, taking into account a number of factors when making a final decision.

College counselor, Randall Fong, said, “There are multiple factors that students should consider when choosing a university, including location, class size, major and price.”

Senior Katie Lee is the recipient of the four-year University of Hawaii Regents Scholarship that covers tuition and a $4,000 annual stipend.

“Because I intend to become a pharmacist, I looked for colleges that either had a pre-pharm program or were acclaimed in their chemistry department or undergrad research. Essentially, I chose the school that allowed me to have the least student loan debt,” said Lee who is the class salutatorian.

Senior Monica Ho will be going away for college and did much investigation prior to committing to a college.

“I will be attending UCLA in the fall. I researched the different programs and opportunities the schools offered, read student reviews and asked questions at the college receptions I attended. I considered factors such as academic rigor, social life, safety, surrounding area, study abroad and a nearby medical school as a pre-med student. I came to my final decision after comparing colleges and thinking about which one would provide me with the best overall college experience and in this case, UCLA has everything I want in a university,” said Ho.

With the price of college tuition increasing every year, students need to look closely into the cost of attendance at a prospective university.

Fong said, “Finance is one of the defining factors when choosing an institution. Students and parents must heavily consider the out-of-pocket cost even with loans and scholarships. The price could possibly be the sole reason for picking school ‘A’ over school ‘B.’”

“At first, I wasn’t too sure about going to UH Manoa, especially since I had gotten rather generous financial aid packages from the other two universities, but because I was offered the Regents Scholarship which covered my tuition and most of the costs to attend UH, I chose to stay in Hawaii,” said Lee.

Financial aid or scholarships are not always the deciding factor.

Senior Greer Smith said, “I considered location in terms of family and weather, education and athletic programs, as well as options for graduate school, retention rate and lastly money. Money did not play that big of a part in my decision, however. While I knew I did not want to be in debt by $60,000 for each year at a university, I think of the quality of the school more than how much it costs.”