says she wishes she’d been made aware of the myriad other ways to finance school when she attended college. Throughout high school, she says, she was taught that student loans were always “good debt,” and that repayment wouldn’t be a problem once she got a job.
“I didn’t realize there are scholarships, companies that provide tuition reimbursement, self-financing, joining the military, and even working directly for a university,” notes Whitney.
When Hansen went back to earn her master’s degree in business, she got a job at the university where she studied and received a heavily discounted tuition package as a result. “My entire MBA cost me $472,” she says.
