The teen who enrolls because it is the expected next step — without clarity on who they are, what they value, what kind of life they want to build, or what a specific degree will actually produce — that teen is the one borrowing $80,000 for a path they were never sure about, graduating into a market that is tighter than anyone told them, and ending up back home trying to figure out what went wrong.

The Graduation High Lasts About Two Weeks. Then What? The cap gets thrown. The photos get taken. The party happens. And then, somewhere around week two, the house gets very quiet. Your teen is sleeping until noon. The phone is out constantly. The big conversations about the future - college, career, next steps - get shorter every time you try to have them. And you start to feel something you did not expect after all those years of working toward this moment. Worry.