As a new wave of high school students enter the college admissions horse race, here's a bit of advice for their parents: Stop looking at your kid and worrying about why he doesn't seem interested in getting into a top school. Instead, look in the mirror and worry about why you do care so much.
There's data out there showing that, on average, private college graduates don't graduate with that much more debt than public college graduates. But the rosy numbers don't tell the whole story, and what they leave out is costing students and their families tens of thousands of dollars.
Ask anyone you know where the smartest people go to college. Chances are you'll get all the same answers: Harvard, MIT, Yale, etc. But what's smarter than saving $100,000 and getting an education that is just as good, and perhaps even better, than you can get at many top universities?





