She dreamed of New York University but not the $75k annual price tag — how this 24-year-old Las Vegas native amassed a $350k war chest to make it happen

Making her dreams a reality

While some students might have given up on attending their dream school, that was never an option for Bille. She searched through databases, flipped through books and even turned to YouTube for tips on how to pay for college.

With the right research, Bille found that landing funding for school may not be as out of reach as she might have thought. In fact, colleges awarded $82.8 billion in grants and discounts to students during the 2023-24 school year, according to the College Board.

There is funding out there, but it can be hard to secure. Before her freshman year at NYU, Bille was awarded the Pell Grant — which gave her just over $6,000 — but she still had $60,000 in fees to cover. She went to NYU’s financial aid office and asked for help.

“If I’m not able to get more aid, I won’t be able to attend your university,” she told the school, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Just a week later, Bille logged into her student account and found an additional $34,000 in funding — enough to secure her spot at NYU, as well as time to search for more scholarships.

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Is the ROI really worth it?

When Bille was accepted to NYU in February, 2019, she was looking at a cost of $75,502 annually, including room and board. For comparison, the average annual cost of in-state tuition at a public four-year institution is $9,750, according to the Education Data Initiative.

A report from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce titled “A First Try at ROI: Ranking 4,500 Colleges” reveals that private nonprofit college degrees offer a stronger long-term return on investment than those from public universities. Opportunity Insight, a Harvard University-based research group, supported this and found that leadership positions are largely dominated by graduates from a small number of private colleges.

But students at private colleges typically graduate with more debt. On average, students at private nonprofit universities take out $33,910 in loans to earn their bachelor’s degree. However, these students also see higher median earnings — about $8,000 more annually just a decade after enrollment. Over a 40-year span, that pay gap adds up, with private college grads netting an average economic gain of $838,000, compared to $765,000 for their public university peers.

Attending a private university can open doors to job opportunities thanks to a strong alumni network, prestigious reputation and exclusive recruitment pipelines — but it’s not the only gateway to success. Gaining work experience, seizing opportunities and building a strong professional network can help you work your way up, regardless of where you went to college.

In the end, Bille ended up combining scholarships with financial aid to receive more than $350,000 in funding. Her hard work and determination allowed her to attend her dream school, and an expensive one at that, without spending her own money or taking on student debt.