Burlington, Iowa? and Colleges... (Des Moines, Iowa City: low income, private schools, universities)

[SleepingSun]

Hello,

Burlington, Iowa is a place my mother heard about and she was thinking about moving there. I wanted to do some research. Is Burlington a good place to live?

Also can anyone tell me how close or far the major universities are to Burlington. Like how far is Drake University?
How far is the University of Iowa?

Is there any other private Universities that are near Burlington? I heard that with private schools you don't have to wait a year to get the in-state tuition like the public ones. I was considering Drake, because I heard the tuition could be cheaper if you were 24. Anyone know about that or any other private colleges like that?

Thanks in advance.

[iowegian]

I haven't been to Burlington, so I can't say much about it. From what I've heard, it's a fairly typical, economically depressed smaller Iowa city. Cost of living would be low, but it's probably not the most exciting place to be.

If you are considering commuting to Drake or UI from Burlington, I would not recommend it at all. It would be about 1 1/2 hours to Iowa City (which you could do, but it would be very tiring) and a little over 3 hours to Des Moines.

Just to be clear, (and I think you know this, I remember you from your other thread - but I just want to make sure) there is no "in-state" tuition at private universities but they can often offer enough need-based aid to make it affordable for lower-income people. And I would definitely double-check about the age of 24, but I'm pretty sure that is the age at which you can be considered legally independent of your parents, and assuming you're not making tons of money, you would have a much better chance of getting financial aid taking your low income into account. All private colleges are like that, there is only one cost of admission no matter where you come from, since they don't get state tax dollars.

The nearest private college to Burlington is Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, which is about a half-hour drive. They do have a Communications major (You wanted a Journalism major, right?) which seems to be pretty similar to journalism, but may not be exactly the same, I'm not sure. (Iowa Wesleyan College)
This is basically the only nearby college in Iowa, excluding community colleges. The next nearest is probably Central College in Pella, which is near Des Moines, and as such not very close to Burlington.

I can think of a couple on the Illinois side though. One is Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, which is about 40 minutes east of Burlington. It has a Communications major also, but no Journalism. (Monmouth College)
Knox College is a more selective private college in Galesburg, Illinois, an hour east. It only has a Journalism minor. (A nationally ranked, private, liberal arts college - Knox College)

Hope this helps, ask if you have more questions

[SleepingSun]

Thanks for the info. My mother was hearing a lot of hearsay about Burlington, now she knows to rethink that information and do further research. I definitely don't think I want to go to Iowa at this point. Those colleges near Burlington don't sound very good for my major. Plus I'm done with community college too. I just have a year left. I better stick it out in vegas.