Here's what students and graduates are saying about WICHE's student exchange....

  • "WICHE's PSEP has been a great blessing to my optometry career. My home state doesn't have an optometry program, so WICHE was the only affordable option. The financial relief it has provided will also enable me to serve third world countries on missions earlier in my career. I encourage our legislature to continue to support this incredible program. North Dakota's participation in WICHE's PSEP has not only educated one more optometrist to serve the state, but will also provide eye care to many underserved people around the world with the service trips I will be able to take. Thank you for investing in your future healthcare professionals! "

    Chantel, North Dakota resident, Class of 2014, Pacific University, College of Optometry
  • "WICHE's PSEP has allowed me to reduce what I pay in tuition so that I have money for living expenses while I'm in optometry school. The support will make my total loan accumulation lower so that I won't have to spend years in debt. PSEP has made a tremendous difference in my way of life while in optometry school; it's allowed me to focus on my studies and not worry about my financial situation."

    Tara, North Dakota resident, Class of 2014, Pacific University, Optometry
  • "North Dakota does not have an optometry program so my options were an excessively expensive private school or high out-of-state tuition. WICHE's PSEP has made my optometry studies much more affordable so I can practice where I want (hopefully in a rural area), instead of having to find a high paying job in an urban area to pay off my loans. I greatly appreciate the WICHE funding I receive. "

    Karie, North Dakota resident, Class of 2015, Pacific University, College of Optometry
  • "I am a North Dakota resident, and am blessed to be receiving financial assistance through WICHE's PSEP to attend optometry school in Oregon. The support has been integral to my ability to pursue my dream of becoming an optometrist. I will be in less student loan debt when I graduate, and this will free me to pursue advanced residency training and private-practice optometry. I am incredibly thankful to PSEP."

    Kelci, North Dakota resident, Class of 2013, Pacific University Oregon, Optometry
  • "I am currently at Pacific University College of Optometry, enrolled as a WICHE PSEP student. My home state of North Dakota does not have an optometry school, and not having the added expense of being an out-of-state student has made graduate school an affordable option. Without the assistance of PSEP, graduate school might not have been an option for me, at least not right out of undergraduate school. My student loan debt will not be as substantial when I leave graduate school. This in turn will make it much easier for me to buy into a practice or even open my own practice when I return to North Dakota. Thank you for allowing me to become knowledgable in a field that I am passionate about and to come back and serve the great people of North Dakota."

    Erica, North Dakota resident, Class of 2015, Pacific University College of Optometry
  • "PSEP has been a tremendous help to me in achieving my lifelong goal of becoming an optometrist. Graduate school is hardly a minimal expense, especially if you have to pay an out-of-state tuition rate like I would have had to for optometry school, since North Dakota does not have its own. PSEP has helped me get a step ahead in life by relieving some of the financial burden I will have when I graduate from optometry school in May. That is something I will be forever thankful for, both emotionally and mentally, and of course, financially. This is a wonderful program and I hope it always continues to help fellow North Dakota students achieve their professional dreams. North Dakota needs medical professionals, and PSEP helps supply them. Saying "thank you" is an understatement! "

    Brittany, North Dakota resident, Class of 2012, Pacific University, Optometry
  • "I am currently studying at Pacific University College of Optometry. WICHE has made going to school much more affordable. Paying out-of-state tuition or paying to attend a private optometry school is very expensive, yet it is the only option, since North Dakota does not have an optometry school. I greatly encourage legislators to support WICHE so optometry students from ND, such as myself, will return back after graduating to provide ND residents with outstanding eye care and will have a smaller financial burden. It can be hard qualifying for loans to open up or buy out a practice when student loans are too high. I would like to thank North Dakota for giving me the opportunity to attend optometry school. I am excited to be the first person in my family to graduate with a doctoral degree and look forward to returning to ND to give my family and friends the best eye care possible!"

    Karie, North Dakota resident, Class of 2015, Pacific University College of Optometry
  • "I am currently studying optometry at Pacific University College of Optometry in Forest Grove, OR. Since there are no optometry schools in my home state of North Dakota, WICHE's PSEP allowed me to attend optometry school at a lower cost than I would have otherwise qualified for. I was thankful that it gave me multiple options for optometry schools that I could attend. I am greatly indebted to PSEP; without it I may not have been able to attend optometry school. Thank you for allowing me to pursure my dreams of improving the lives of others through healthcare."

    Janice, North Dakota resident, Class of 2014, Pacific University College of Optometry, Optometry
  • "I am currently studying optometry at Pacific University College of Optometry and am a WICHE PSEP student. I am a first-generation graduate student, and there is no way that my family would be able to help me pay for school; WICHE's PSEP is the only affordable option. It also frees me up enough so that I can decide to go on to do a residency or choose a specialty and not have my student debt controlling my future. I have some classmates who will have almost $250,000 in student debt from graduate school alone, and doing a residency program would be a huge financial hardship. I thank North Dakota for giving me the opportunity to have the career I want and encourage our legislators to continue support for this great program! "

    Staci, North Dakota resident, Class of 2014, Pacific University College of Optometry, Optometry
  • "Without WUE, I would not be able to afford the career of my dreams. Thanks to WUE, I’m able to study out-of-state in the program that’s the best fit for me for my respective discipline."

    Kyle, North Dakota resident, Class of 2013, Colorado State University, Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology
  • "Without WUE, I wouldn’t have been able to study out of state. Although my parents make good money, they have yet to send my younger sister and brother through college, a factor that FAFSA and financial aid formulas do not often recognize. WUE allowed me to live my dream of studying in Colorado without racking up huge amounts of debt. WUE has been a tremendous help financially. Thank you!"

    Gwen, North Dakota resident, Class of 2014, Colorado State University, Anthropology, Art History and Spanish
  • "I recently graduated from Pacific University’s optometry program and returned to practice in a small community in my home state of North Dakota. Many of my peers who didn’t receive WICHE support were forced to stay in urban areas where salaries are higher, so that they can afford to pay off their student loans; some of them owe staggering amounts of almost $200,000! I am deeply grateful to WICHE’s PSEP and the State of North Dakota. WICHE support gave me the luxury of establishing my rural practice. "

    Dr. Candace Paul Hoff, OD, North Dakota resident, Class of 2008, Pacific University, College of Optometry