The number of Kennedy graduates attending Kirkwood Community College nearly doubles each year. Some students are now switching from the typical “big university” experience and choosing community college instead. Reasons for the switch come in different varieties such as scholarships, transportation and the increase in university tuition costs across the nation in the past 10 years.

The main reason amongst students is saving money. Kirkwood, being located just on the outside of Cedar Rapids makes a cheaper living situation makes it very easy for students to be able to save money and avoid debt.

“I didn’t get any scholarships from any big universities so it pretty much came down to me not wanting to be 18,000 dollars in debt by the age of 18,”Raley Hyde, sr., said.

Many graduating seniors agreed that debt is the scariest thing to them when choosing a college to attend. Some students admit that they are unsure what they want to do so they’re trying to avoid debt.

“I don’t know what profession I want to go into so I don’t want to waste any money in the meantime,” Rachel Couser, sr., said. “I wanted to go to Iowa, and still plan on doing that after a year or two at Kirkwood,” said Couser.

A tuition at Kirkwood without any scholarships and living on campus amounts to about $4,200 each year. They have a 100% admitted acceptance rate and over 18,000 students already enrolled for the 2015-2016 school year.

Attending an out of state college, depending on the state and your living situation, can amount to over $30,000 in just one year. Therefore, many students feel the need to make the money-saving switch to a community college.