reporter: car are a fin. you were going to a private college in d.c. you re originally from connecticut. and you made a decision to leave the private college. why was that? i view college as a privilege but also an investment. i wanted to get the best education possible but i also wanted to get the most out of my money and i didn t feel as i was getting that at my previous institution. i think a lot of the time people equate quality with costly and that s not necessarily true. i ve been far more academically stimulated here at uconn than at my previous institution. reporter: she also considered what she wanted to do after college. i m very driven toward mission and purposeful work. i wanted to save now so i could have a greater impact later. reporter: lee melvin is uconn vice president of enrollment planning and management. he says there s several ways to cut down on college costs. one creative way is students are recognizing the importance of graduating in four years. so
what she wanted to do after college. i m very driven toward mission and purposeful work. i wanted to save now so i could have a greater impact later. reporter: lee melvin is uconn vice president of enrollment planning and management. he says there s several ways to cut down on college costs. one creative way is students are recognizing the importance of graduating in four years. so what some students are doing is while they re in high school they re taking dual enrollment classes, where they re enrolled in high school and college. they re taking advance the placement courses where they can take advanced placement tests and take that score and some schools will give college credit for that score. so once they arrive to us, many students will have completed half of their freshman year. another ways that students are being creative is they are looking at costs both in state and out of state schools. and they re also comparing their private schools and now more students are looking a