Teresa learned college out of state was not a viable option; it was too expensive.
because is has a pause in between option and it
Semicolons are used to combine two complete thoughts or sentences, usually only possible to use when both of those separate sentences have relevance to one another or do not stray too far off topic.
Your answer is Teresa learned college out of state was not a viable option; it was too expensive.
This is because the semicolon is in the middle of two separate complete thoughts. Teresa learned college out of state was not a viable option AND it was too expensive could both be separate sentences on their own that make sense.
You could sometimes even think of a semicolon like an "AND." Although different, you would not say Teresa and learned college out of state was not a viable option it was too expensive.
