Turns out, there could be a way to send your child to the college of his or her dreams, without having to pull your hair out to pay very high, sometimes unaffordable "out-of-state" tuition fees.

For those who are unfamiliar with the college registration process, students who live in states where they attend college pay "in-state" tuition fees while those who attend colleges out of state are required to pay almost 5-6 times more— as "out-of-state" students.

This means that a student living in California and attending a state college there could be charged about $12,000 per year — as a resident — while a student moving in from another state or country will pay upwards of $37,000 to attend the same school — as a non resident.

This is a dilemma that hundreds of thousands of parents across the country — American Samoa included — face each year when it's time to decide whether or not to take out a second mortgage on their home to send their child to the out-of-state college of their dreams that specializes in their field of study, or settle for the cheaper in-state college that nobody wants to attend because of the limited curriculum.

But there just may be a light at the end of the tunnel for local students.

In the personal finance book "Achieve Financial Freedom — Big Time!", authors Sandy and Matthew Botkin have compiled a list of strategies for securing in-state tuition rates for aspiring college graduates.

The book does not guarantee that the strategies will work for everyone, in all situations, all the time. But any chance of cutting ever increasing costs of tuition by up to 66% is worth checking out.

Dailyfinance.com advises parents to take advantage of "academic common markets," noting that in certain regions of the country, states have banded together to offer in-state tuition rates to students within their 'common market'. One of the markets includes the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE).

"Within each market, students residing in one state, accepted to a school in a different state, can apply for in-state tuition at their preferred school if they're studying in a major not offered by any public school in their home state," dailyfinance.com reports.

Many parents aren't aware of this, but WICHE’s members include 15 Western states and the US Pacific Island territories and freely associated states (The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is the first to participate).

Members are listed in chronological order of membership below:

            New Mexico            December 19, 1952

            Montana            December 24, 1952

            Arizona            January 6, 1953

            Utah            January 14, 1953

            Oregon            January 31, 1953

            Colorado            April 20, 1953

            Wyoming            April 28, 1953

            Idaho            May 13, 1953

            Alaska            May 19, 1955

            Washington            June 9, 1955

            California            December 15, 1955

            Nevada            June 2, 1959

            Hawai'i            June 23, 1959

            North Dakota            July 1, 1984

            South Dakota            July 1, 1988

            US Pacific Island territories and freely associated states            November 13, 2012

WICHE began operations in 1953 in Eugene, OR, moving to its present location in Boulder, CO in 1955. Three gubernatorially appointed commissioners from each member govern WICHE. Under terms of the compact, each member commits to support WICHE's basic operations through annual dues established by the full commission.

American Samoa could follow the lead of CNMI and become a part of WICHE in order to help local students with their chances of attending off island colleges at decreased, in-state tuition rates.

In a telephone interview with Samoa News this week, Acting President of the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) Tapa’au Dr. Daniel Aga said that this is “definitely” something they plan on looking into.

 “We here at ASCC are always willing to do anything that will help local students attend the college of their dreams at a lower tuition rate, to save money,” he said. “Times are tough and money is hard to come by nowadays so this is something that we need to look into and research in depth.”

Tapa’au said as soon as they get all the facts together, they will issue an official statement about the goals of the ASCC, as far as its participation in the WICHE program is concerned, and what they intend to do to take it a step further.

If the ASCC moves forward with becoming an official member of WICHE, it will be big news for parents of local high school graduates who are recipients of ASG scholarships but are unable to find any affordable off island school for their child to attend due to high tuition costs.

Basically, participation in the WICHE program will allow students from American Samoa (if accepted by the school) to attend any state school in the 15 other states within the Commission and pay about 150% of resident tuition, which amounts to about half of what they would pay otherwise, as out-of-state students.

According to their website, WICHE works "collaboratively to expand educational access and excellence for their citizens. By promoting innovation, cooperation, resource sharing, and sound public policy, WICHE strengthens higher education’s contributions to our social, economic, and civic life."

WICHE.edu notes that the regional organization was created by the Western Regional Education Compact and adopted in the 1950s by Western states. "WICHE was created to facilitate resource sharing among the higher education systems of the West. It implements a number of activities to accomplish its objectives."