Case Study #2:

Julia’s First Choice

Dear friends, I have created a second case study to consider and share among your friends and family. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Julia’s First Choice:

Julia’s parents, Jeff and Cindy, dropped out of college during their junior year. Falling in love and getting pregnant didn’t fit with college life. Presently, their cherished daughter was in her senior year of high school. Her excellent scholarship and well-roundness opened more doors than she could walk through. Jeff and Cindy were thrilled and wanted her to go to her first choice no matter what the cost. Her guidance counselor, her friends, her extended family all showered her with praise to “go for the bass ring“.

When she chose Colombia University, her parents cheered and then gulped. New York city is one of the most expensive cities in America to live in.  They could not afford the $70,000 tuition and living expenses and they wanted her to have her first choice. She then took out student loans for 75% of her total budget. Jeff and Cindy withdrew money from their 401(k)s early, paid the penalty and hanged Julia the promised 25%.

Fast forward to spring of Julia’s junior year; She felt stressed, she experienced several panic attacks that left her drained and confused. She couldn’t talk with her parents, she was scared she would hurt them. Her increasing and unabated anxiety compelled her to visit the student health center. As she told the therapist, the mounting debt she would have to pay after graduation haunted her.

Every time money was mentioned in her studies or casually in conversation her head felt like her head would fly apart. No rational thinking would stop her panic.

The therapist told her that many students he counsels have similar feelings. She then shared how guilty she felt “putting her parents in the poorhouse”. She knew they wanted the best for her but at what cost? She could have gone to a state school for half the price and managed just fine. Excitement is a wonderful experience. It can also conspire to propel action where cooler heads might make better decisions. Parents, family, guidance counselors, peers and neighbors may forget the college cost factor. the burden of which falls later on the students as they head toward graduation.

There is no easy answer for sudent debt. It is a cautionary tale that says; slow down, look at the long-term picture (like measuring the total cost of college against earned income from a career) and be ready to accept “good enough” over perfect first choice!