Congratulations seniors! The next steps of your life are approaching. But with this comes a fork in the road. Do you pursue a higher education in the form of traditional college, or not? Do you jump straight into work, or do you go into a trade school? There are so many options. Most advisers out there are going to condition you to pick big universities with hefty price tags, though that’s not the only way to go, and often it’s not even the best option.

   I get it, more options open up to you after a traditional college degree. Although maybe you should consider a trade school. Some examples of trade schools near the San Diego area are San Diego Medical College, Center for Employment Training, and Bellus Academy. You could be trained to work as a chef, a car mechanic, a secretary and more. Perhaps those don’t light any bulbs? You could consider the military? Long story short, there are many options out there.

   Perfect! You decided to pick a traditional college. What are the next steps? First things first, you need to get accepted into your college of choice. Easier said than done. Lucky for you, there are a few applications out there that work for many colleges. Mainly the Common App. The Common App is an online application that is used for over 900 colleges and universities around the country. It’s the one-stop shop for college applications.

    The Common App is quite a big one, though still, you should look at and complete the UC Apps. For the UC application, you need to answer some questions, write some short essays, and give general information regarding yourself and can be sent to multiple different UC schools without having to change anything. Though for every school you send it to, it costs 70 dollars.

   Speaking of costs. Time to tackle the price tag. According to US News and World Report, the average cost for tuition at private universities would sink you 39,723 dollars per year. And for out-of-state, 22,953 dollars. If you’re lucky enough to get into a local university, it’ll still hit you with 10,423 big ones (usnews.com). All options out there for higher education are going to require some sort of monetary loss.

   If most jobs in the country require some type of higher education, why is there a paywall? And that paywall is so high that unless you’re chosen to get scholarships or come from the 1 percent, you’re going to have to take out some student loans.

   Don’t let me pull you down, though. Please try to reach towards higher education if you can, any type. It’s still important that we as a society reach for change and justice. And hopefully, some of you that are lucky enough to have access to a normalized type of higher education can change this system of the poor staying poor and the rich getting richer.