With the economy in a crisis, the dilemma of paying for college has grown even greater, and loans are becoming more difficult to obtain. Many students choose to attend state schools to help defray the cost, or simply because they like the school and the programs it offers.

In fact, many of the state schools across the country boast an impressive reputation. Many public universities, including the University of Massachusetts, are considered to be state-of-the-art research facilities, with excellent faculty members and famous alumni.

Despite this, many students ignore these cheaper institutions for fear it won’t look as good on a r’eacute;sum’eacute;. Many students are looked down upon by their private school peers. They can face questioning looks, and faces of disappointment from other students and teachers.

At a recent ice hockey game in which the Massachusetts Minutemen faced the Boston University Terriers, BU fans could be heard chanting: ‘If you can’t get into college, go to state! [Clap, clap].’ This chant implied that state colleges and their students are somehow less deserving and less intelligent than their private college peers.

UMass is located in the quieter and more agricultural, western Massachusetts. In the surrounding area are other state schools such as Westfield State College, Elms College in Springfield, and Fitchburg State College. In the eastern area, closer to Boston, there’s Boston University, Boston College, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, Wellesley College, Wheaton College and the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, among others. With the wealth of famous and prestigious private colleges in Massachusetts, the merits of public institutions such as UMass can be overlooked.

‘In Massachusetts, everyone is like ‘Oh, UMass,” said New York native and UMass-Amherst sophomore Nara Allan. ‘But in New York, everyone is like ‘Oh! UMass! It’s very different.’

Indeed a state school, even an institute as respected as UMass-Amherst, doesn’t always have as much respect as an Ivy League or private school.

‘I spent seven years in a prep school having Ivies and New Ivies shoved down my throat,’ said UMass Amherst junior and classics major, Elizabeth Goldberg. ‘When I was applying to UMass, the headmaster asked me where I was applying, and when I told him, he said ‘Oh, OK.’ and left. He didn’t wish me luck, and was just sincerely disappointed because I was one of the ‘smart’ ones. I was tired of not fitting in because of not having as much money as the other students.’

The sentiment of ‘fitting in’ is a common theme among many UMass students, especially when it comes to issues of social class and finances. Being the poorer student in a wealthier private college could make one feel less important and less intelligent than their peers. However, there are quite a few students who can make this trend backfire.

Beth McGoldrick of Acton, Mass., recently wrote a letter to the editor of The Boston Globe about this situation.

‘If you don’t want to go to University of Massachusetts at Amherst because you’ve ‘never been into going’ there, or it ‘wouldn’t look as good’ on your r’eacute;sum’eacute; ‘hellip; by all means do not enroll at UMass Amherst,’ she said. ‘You’ll be a pain in the neck to the talented, enthusiastic kids who have the good sense to know how lucky they are to go there – the ones who quietly grasp that the answers on the biology test are the same at UMass as they are at Harvard,’ said McGoldrick.

With the United States economy in a terrible state, many college applicants are facing the difficult choice of applying to their expensive dream schools, or attending a cheaper state school. As these applicants face the reality of a higher education’s financial burden, they also face the reality that many state schools are actually very good schools with some distinguished alumni. Having received his doctorate in education from UMass, comedian Bill Cosby is one of the University’s most famous alumni.

UMass is one of the most widely respected universities and research facilities in the United States. It offers a variety of majors and is well known for many of its departments, such as anthropology and linguistics. Yet the stigma against state schools refuses to die.

‘I think the stigma is present and completely undeserved. My mother went to UMass-Boston, and ‘hellip; she’s got a degree the same as anyone who went to any overpriced private school,’ said Wagner College sophomore and theater major Kevin Daly. ‘Many state schools, UMass-Amherst included, are good places to be and they don’t deserve the less-than reputation they tend to get. The only reason I never wanted to go to a state school was that I did not want to remain in my home state.’

In an effort to combat the declining amount of applications, various private colleges have started offering financial incentives to students of lower-income families.

‘ According to various documents and reports released by the National Association of Independent Schools and Colleges, private universities have started to replace loans with grants, match state school tuition prices, or even eliminate tuition all togeth
er in an attempt to bring back interest in their schools. These schools run on donations and their high tuition prices.

The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., will offer free tuition to Worcester students whose families earn less than $50,000 per year. Amherst College will swap loans with scholarships in its financial aid packages. The policy will eliminate loans for all students and will affect all incoming students.

Housing fees are also being reduced or even eliminated at some schools. Baker College of Flint, Mich., is offering free housing to students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher. The California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks has agreed to match tuition prices for some students with that of the University of California, Los Angeles. As the offers and incentives keep coming, the college search is starting to look more like an after-Christmas sale at Wal-Mart. It’s not just the SATs students need to be prepared for, but also the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

While some students with an upper-class economic background maintain an interest in these schools, many more are starting to put state colleges on their radars. Parents are beginning to give their children a reality check and inform them that their wish list of colleges is not entirely possible.

With the economy in its poor state, the focus is on how to pay for school, not which one will look best on a r’eacute;sum’eacute;. Students and parents alike are reaching the same conclusion: the education one receives does not increase in value with tuition prices.

Elizabeth Wahlman can be reached at ewahlman@student.umass.edu..