Kacie Candela chooses the “Right Fit” college instead of being awestruck by name-brand college recognition and publicized rankings. Selecting the right college should be a methodical approach where you consider factual data, independent sources, self-imposed student loan limits, and personal preferences.
Kacie is a “smart cookie” because she chose the best college for her major that agreed with her bottom-line. Student loan debt, debt-restructuring and loan-forgiveness plans are all over the news these days with politicians attempting to correct the overwhelming burden facing today’s youth. But Kacie’s plan is the best of them all…select a school that you can actually afford to attend!
Read more about Kacie at Newsday
Consider this…there are high performance automobiles for sale for more than $200k…does the average teenager even dream of getting that car for high school graduation? I don’t think so. Has it ever happened? It sure has…there are a lot of people out there in the world who can easily purchase one or more of these high-priced vehicles without a second thought.
In the same vein, plenty of families are able to write a check for $67,000 a year to send their child to a highly-ranked, private university without remortgaging their house or sacrificing their retirement funds. And, to be honest, there’s nothing wrong with it because these families are wealthy enough to afford it and they obviously see value in earning a degree from such a prestigious university.
What is wrong is when a student ignores budgetary constraints, against all mathematics, advice and warnings, and signs on the dotted-line for over $150k in loans to attend her dream school.
Kacie’s commentary should be required reading for every high school student and parent. It is not failure to make a prudent decision. It takes strength and courage to walk away from a dream conceived in naivete, and toward a future with financial integrity.
Kudos to Kacie, she is an inspiration to us all! Thank you for sharing your experience which allows us to begin this conversation.
Trish Portnoy is a blogger, writer, app developer and high school teacher who helps high school students and their parents to research colleges, understand their options, and make choices using resources from the Internet, guidance counselors and other helpful people.
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