Shailah Odman, 18, still dreams of attending college in San Diego, but said she may have to change her plans because of money.

Shailah Odman wants to go to Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego to study nursing.

But the 18-year-old Bend High senior is facing a tough reality as she tries to move toward that dream: She won’t be able to go if she can’t secure more scholarships or grants.

That would likely mean attending a college in Oregon, or staying at home and attending Central Oregon Community College.

“Unfortunately, it all comes down to money. That’s what is holding me back,” she said. “It’s just that I can’t afford to take $20,000 in loans every year.”

High school counselors and students say this year, with the economy slumping and futures uncertain, some families are choosing less-expensive college options and are reluctant to take out large student loans to pay for more expensive schools.

With a May 1 deadline to commit to many colleges looming, students right now are making tough decisions about their futures.

According to Gary Whitley, a counselor at Bend High, no trends are certain yet, but he’s heard from students who are struggling with financial aid.

“I’ve had conversations over the past few weeks like that. I’ve talked with one girl who has just been accepted to some private schools, and the amount of money coming in sometimes seems fairly substantial,” Whitley said.

But the true cost, he said, isn’t always covered with a financial aid package.

Even large financial aid packages sometimes can’t cover a private university’s tuition, and some students and parents may not be able to fork over the money necessary.

“It’s certainly the topic of conversations,” Whitley said. “At first, you get excited about the acceptance, and then the financial aid comes in, and you’re looking closely at what it really costs to go to school.”

Carolyn Platt, who offers private college counseling in the area, said the increase in the number of students asking for aid, and the drop in the endowments of many universities, is a tough combination.

“I’m seeing a lot more gapping in financial aid packages,” she said. “A lot more need is being met by loans, and I think this is a major concern to a lot of families, because given the economic climate, a number of families are worried about qualifying for loans and taking more loan burden.”

She said some families in the past would have borrowed against home equity or had money in the stock market to pay for their children’s educations.

“I personally feel that taking out some loans to pay for college, particularly if you can qualify for a student loan, that is an excellent thing to do,” Platt said. “(But) there may not be the possibility of taking out the loan that colleges expect families to take. They may not have anything to borrow against, and student loans are becoming harder to get.”

That’s Shailah’s concern.

“We don’t even know if we could get loans right now because of the economy,” she said. “It just puts that extra challenge there because we don’t know if we’ll get the loans, or what the rates will be, and whether I’ll get a good job. There’s still a demand for nurses, but this is four years from now, and I don’t know.”

Cole Timm, Shailah’s 17-year-old classmate at Bend High, does know where he’ll be next year. And he’s keeping his fingers crossed he’ll get to stay there.

Cole has committed to attend Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif., next year. But he knows that if the economy doesn’t improve, he might have to return to Oregon after a year at the school.

Cole plans to play soccer at the school, but didn’t get any scholarship for the sport. He hopes that will change. As it is, he said, the school costs $43,000 per year, and he received $20,000 in grants and other scholarships. That leaves a $23,000 gap.

“We committed to do it, and we’ll try it for a year,” he said, adding that he hopes he’ll find some more scholarships once he’s on campus. “All my money was in stock, so we’re hoping it will come back, and we won’t have to take out as big a loan.”

But if he can’t find the money after a year or two, Cole said there’s a chance he’d have to return to Oregon for the remainder of college.

Still, Cole remains hopeful.

“I see it all working,” he said.

But both Cole and Shailah know plenty of friends who are planning to stay close to home next year.

“I think there’s a lot of people who will stay here and go to (the University of Oregon) or OSU or COCC just to keep the financial costs down,” Shailah said.

Debbie McKeown, a counselor at Summit High, agrees with the students.

“I think COCC will see another increase in who wants to go there,” she said.

While more students may decide to stick close to home and take classes at COCC, getting into those classes won’t be easy. The college has seen record enrollment over the past two years, and this spring the number of students is up 37 percent over last year at this time. As a result, the school for the first time ever had to cut off enrollment, and there are 4,000 students still stuck on waiting lists for the classes they hope to take.

And McKeown said she believes some families are looking at schools in Oregon, public or private, and reconsidering them because they’re easier to get to and from.

“It does add up,” she said.

“I think what people were saying in the past, they’d say, ‘OK, yeah, I have some student loans, and I expect to work them off,’” McKeown said. “Now, they may be saying, ‘Wow, student loans? Job security?’ And they may be looking at what happens after college, looking at that picture and backing off a little bit.’”

While Cole has been able to commit to Westmont College, and Shailah is getting ready to make her decision, Crystal Cox, 17, is still waiting for her financial aid package.

The Mountain View senior is a 3.0 student who dreams of going to the University of Oregon to become a nurse practitioner. She’s gotten in but isn’t sure whether she’ll get enough financial aid to go.

“It’s so much money. My family is lower-middle class,” she said. “We make enough, but finding extra money is hard.”

Crystal’s parents have been supportive, and she said if she can get a good combination of loans and scholarships and grants, she’ll take the plunge in Eugene because she’ll be able to pay it back once she graduates and gets a good job.

“COCC is a good place, but I want to go someplace bigger and I want to be on my own,” she said. “I want to be independent.”

But knowing her financial aid might not come through, she’s preparing for what staying in town would be like.

“It’s really tempting” to avoid taking out loans by staying local, she said. “But I know if I go to COCC, it will be harder to get started up again.”

Mostly, she’s scared about having so many loans to pay back.

“I’ve seen debt, and I’ve seen people who can’t make it, and they’re worried every day,” Crystal said.

While Crystal waits for her financial aid to decide her destiny, Shailah is still working through a backup plan.

“Right now, I don’t really have one. I was accepted to OSU, but I applied before I narrowed down what I wanted to do to nursing, so I’m not left with a lot of options,” she said. “It’s just that nothing looks as good as Point Loma.”

She may go to OSU, or Concordia University in Portland, or stay in Bend and attend COCC for a while. If that happens, she’d still like to live in an apartment on her own.

“We haven’t had that conversation yet,” Shailah said. “We probably should.”