For Emma, what could have been a simple dollars-and-cents decision was far more complicated.
The choice before her: whether to accept a scholarship offering nearly free tuition to attend law school at Indiana University in her home state — or to pay $45,000 a year at the University of Minnesota.
A few weeks ago, she moved to Minneapolis to start law school, a choice largely shaped by the fact that Emma is trans. She has felt increasingly like Indiana's government doesn't welcome her.
"Indiana went from a place that I'd be very happy to stay in," Emma says, to a place she felt "I do have to leave sooner rather than later." Emma asked that NPR refer to her only by her first name so she can choose who knows she is trans.
These are the kinds of tough decisions faced by some trans people in