One of the things I have observed with@mom2collegekids is she has consistently asked high school juniors /seniors what their parents can afford when they present their College List or Acceptance List. Often times, these students will announced that their parents will pay whatever it takes for them to attend a specific College. The realities do. however, get in the way, when parents are confronted with tuition bills exceeding $40K per year ($160K for 4 years). Not many parents can afford such huge tuition bills or willing to shell out that much money for OOS colleges, when alternative “acceptable” cheaper in-state alternatives are available. I read on CC, where one high income father (makes more than $300K/yr) refuse to pay any more than $15K/yr for college tuition.
One of my family member have indicated to all his college age children that he will only pay $X amount for college cost (based solely on the in-state college rate + R &B) and went a step further, by outlining what majors he was willing to pay for. All of his kids have graduated debt free from in-state universities and receive multiple jobs offers upon graduation. All his kids have gone on to complete and/or pursuing graduate degrees through their company sponsored tuition reimbursement programs.
In the OP’s case, journalism is not one of the best college majors these days, in terms of career opportunities, even from a high-ranked Journalism School. The jobs are just not there anymore. Some have viewed journalism as one of the worst majors to get a job after graduation and if one is lucky to land a journalism position, the salary offer is low. IMHO, the OP should look at either attending a local community college for the next 2-years and assess her options at the end of that 2-year period or see if it is possible to attend one of the state’s 4-year institution (if that option still available at such a late stage).