Lananh La, a high school senior from the Dallas suburbs, had her sights set on the University of Texas at Austin long before she even started sending out college applications.

“I entered high school with full confidence that I would attend UT Austin,” the 18-year-old tells CNBC Make It. “Everything was UT. My closet was filled with UT merch. I participated in a week-long sports medicine program at UT, and I never worried about where I was going to end up, because that was the one school that I had in mind.”

La got her acceptance letter to UT in January. But another college caught her attention and offered her a spot in its incoming class: Dallas Baptist University. Her final decision came as a bit of a surprise.

“I turned down my prestigious dream school for a university that nobody has heard of,” La says.

Plenty of locals, alumni and other curious students have no doubt heard of DBU, but with an undergraduate enrollment of just over 2,800 in 2024, the private college is dwarfed in size by UT Austin, which enrolls over 42,000 undergrads as of the fall 2023 semester.

The flagship Texas university has recently gained national prominence: It was named a “New Ivy” by Forbes in 2024 and 2025 to indicate that it was on par with Ivy League universities like Harvard and Princeton in terms of academic rigor and post-graduate job prospects. UT Austin’s undergraduate business program, which La was interested in, is ranked No. 6 in the country by U.S. News. 

Though DBU may not have those distinctions, it offers a solid education that helps most (72%) of its graduates out-earn their peers with only a high school diploma, according to the Department of Education’s College Scorecard. The return on investment from DBU is estimated to be $115,000 after 10 years, according to research from Georgetown University.

UT has a lower sticker price, though. In-state tuition at UT Austin’s business school, where La would have studied, cost $13,676 for the 2024-25 school year, compared with $38,340 a year at DBU.

Here’s why she chose DBU anyway.

When she started considering colleges, La knew she would be staying in her home state of Texas to get a more affordable education. With UT at the top of her list, she “had really high expectations” for her tour, she says.

“But admittedly, I just didn’t love it the way that I had hoped,” she says. “I realized that I more so loved Austin as a city, rather than the school itself.”

On a whim, she decided to take a tour of DBU’s campus in October when she had a day off from school.

“Prior to that tour, I had absolutely zero intentions on applying, and I did not care for it at all whatsoever,” La says. “But as soon as I walked on campus, I felt that amplified connection that I desperately wanted to feel at UT. … [DBU] started checking off all the boxes that I wanted in a university.”

La realized the Christian faith-based affiliation and the campus community were important aspects of her potential college experience. She was surprised after that tour that she felt conflicted over which school to choose.

“I knew how valuable the academic prestige at UT was, but I realized that having that fruitful, faith-centered community was what I prioritized more, and that’s exactly what DBU offers,” she says.

In January, La received admissions offers from both schools and knew she had to make a decision soon. 

DBU felt like a better fit when she was on campus. And the private school wound up offering her grants and scholarships that cut her tuition costs in half and brought her total cost of attendance significantly lower than what she would be paying at UT Austin, she says. She didn’t qualify for federal financial aid, so outside of private or other scholarships, the money she could get for school was dependent on each institution. 

Though La initially wanted to study marketing and business, she has since realized she’s more interested in pursuing physical therapy. She plans to work toward her doctorate in the subject and knows grad school could be even more expensive. That made an affordable bachelor’s degree even more of a priority. 

Ultimately, DBU made more sense for La. 

“UT Austin’s [business school] looked perfect on paper, but once it came down to it, it didn’t align with who I am now, it didn’t resonate with what I wanted,” she says. “I didn’t want to just go to a college to flaunt a prestigious name. I wanted to actually thrive. And I realized that [with UT Austin] I was chasing a brand, not a future.”

Her parents fully supported her decision, but La admits she was a little nervous at first to share her choice with others.

“I’m someone who really loves that academic prestige, being known as smart and high-achieving, so in the beginning, it was almost embarrassing to say that I turned down the one of the top schools in the nation for this local university,” she says.

But that feeling quickly wore off. She’s confident in her decision at this point, knowing she’s going to a good school that will give her the education she wants in a place where she can feel at home.

“I realized that if I want to exude myself as a high-achieving student, then I will be able to do that at DBU regardless, and the name of the university essentially doesn’t mean a lot,” she says.

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Credit card debt is at an all-time high. American consumers carry a combined balance of $1.2 trillion, according to a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. 

A key reason balances keep growing may have less to do with spending and more to do with confusion: A recent survey from Experian found that 2 in 5 Americans in credit card debt believe making the minimum payment is enough to manage it.

It’s an easy assumption to make, says Melissa Lambarena, a senior writer on the credit cards team at NerdWallet. Because the minimum is the amount that’s printed on your statement, paying it can feel like the right thing to do.

However, “only paying the minimum will keep you in debt much longer,” she says.

The math backs her up. If you have an average credit card balance of around $6,600, a 20% interest rate and only make the minimum payment of 1% of the balance every month, you could stay in debt for 18 years, says Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst for credit cards at Bankrate.

“That minimum payment math is really brutal,” he says.

If you want to get out of debt, making more than the minimum payment every month isn’t optional. It’s essential, experts say. And the edge you can give yourself in managing your debt is to be strategic about it.

Experts generally recommend the “snowball” or “avalanche” methods for paying off credit card debt. One isn’t necessarily better than the other, Lambarena says. Rather, the right strategy for you is “the one that will make the most sense for you and keep you motivated throughout your debt payoff journey.”

Here’s a look at each one.

The snowball method encourages you to pay off your debts in order from smallest balance to largest balance. You make minimum payments on all of your debts, then devote any extra money to paying off the credit card with the smallest balance first.

Once that smallest credit card balance is paid off, you apply the money you would have used to continue to pay that card down to your next smallest debt. This creates a “snowball” effect that builds momentum with each credit card you pay off.

The advantage of this approach is the momentum you build as you pay down more and more debt, Rossman says. “Like a snowball rolling downhill, you’re gaining momentum, so you feel more motivated.”

The snowball method is best for people who need to see results to stay the course in their debt management journey, Rossman says. This method may make sense for you if you need “that carrot of motivation to feel like you’re actually making progress,” he says.

The avalanche method focuses on debt with the highest interest rate first. After making minimum payments on all of your debts, apply any extra money toward the balance with the highest interest rate.

This method is mathematically more efficient because higher interest debts cost more to carry. Eliminating those first reduces your overall interest payments and shortens the time it takes to become debt-free.

Lambarena recommends the avalanche method — as long as you can stick to it. “Considering that interest rates are at an all-time high, this would be the most ideal strategy,” she says. “But the strategy means nothing if it’s not going to motivate you.”

Rod Griffin, senior director of public education and advocacy at Experian, agrees. “Progress with the avalanche method can seem very slow, especially in the beginning,” he says. However, “the avalanche method will result in the greatest financial advantage [for paying off debt] over time.”

No matter which approach you decide to take, experts say it’s important to make a plan and commit to it. There is no one-size-fits-all trick to paying off debt, but avoiding it won’t make it go away, Rossman says.

“Credit card debt is the highest cost debt for most households,” he says. “This is definitely one to prioritize for your financial wellbeing.”

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If your goal is to make money right after college, majoring in engineering is one of the safest bets.

That’s because many of the highest-paying degrees are in that field, new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows. The rankings line up with previous years’ data, which consistently place engineering fields at the top for median salaries within five years of graduation.

Top-paying majors include computer engineering, chemical engineering and computer science, with graduates earning a median early-career salary of $80,000. All engineering majors in the study have median early-career pay above $70,000.

Here’s a look at the highest-paying majors for workers ages 22 to 27.

Engineering grads are in high demand for their mix of mathematical skills and technical expertise, qualities that are valuable across a wide range of industries. With the growth of tech-driven fields like artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, it’s not surprising that computer engineering majors are among the highest-paid graduates.

Many of the top-paying majors continue to deliver strong returns over time. Among full-time workers ages 35 to 45, engineering majors typically earn six-figure salaries. Here’s a look at the rankings for mid-career graduates.

In contrast, the lowest-paying majors tend to be in liberal arts or education. Among graduates ages 22 to 27, foreign language majors report the lowest median salary at $40,000. For workers between ages 35 and 45, early childhood education majors earn the least with a median salary of $49,000.

The New York Fed’s annual study is based on 2023 U.S. Census data, the most recent available. It excludes currently enrolled students. Median wage data reflects full-time workers with a bachelor’s degree only.

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As costs soar, the question of whether college is worth it continues to weigh on students and their families.

The total cost of a college degree — including the actual costs students pay over four years and the amount they “lose” by not working full-time during those years — is around $180,000 in 2024, up from $140,000 in the late 90s, new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York finds.

But the typical college graduate can expect a median 12.5% return on their investment in higher education, the agency says. That means for most students, it’s still worth it to go to college.

To estimate the return on investment of a college degree, New York Fed researchers considered out-of-pocket costs like tuition and school fees, earnings outcomes for those with and without degrees, and how much individuals could theoretically have earned if they didn’t go to school.

“While the cost of college has continued to rise, so have the benefits,” the researchers wrote in a blog post about the findings.

Tuition prices have been rising for decades, but the net price students pay for college after financial aid, grants and scholarships has been falling in recent years. The average net price for a four-year degree was about $30,000 in 2024, down from a high of about $40,000 in 2015, according to the Fed’s analysis of Education Department data.

Students who took out loans graduated with an average of $29,300 in debt in 2023, according to the latest College Board data.

Still, the benefits of a college degree largely outweigh those costs for most students in the long-term, Fed researchers say.

College graduates have earned a median of around $80,000 a year since 2020, while median wages for workers with just a high school diploma have hovered around $47,000 a year, the NY Fed reports. Plus, research has shown that the so-called “college wage premium” increases over time because wages grow faster for workers with degrees.

At age 25, college-educated workers earn 27% more than their peers without a degree. That premium grows to 60% at age 55, a 2023 National Bureau of Economic Research paper found.

Paying more for college diminishes the average ROI, but not too significantly for students who graduate in four years, the NY Fed finds. The median ROI remains at least 9% for graduates paying over $260,000 in total out-of-pocket and opportunity costs for their degree.

Students who take longer than four years to graduate from college naturally incur more costs, reducing their return, Fed researchers say. Additionally, entering the job market later can decrease their lifetime earnings.

The ROI for this group falls to 9.3% for students who take five years to graduate and just over 7% for those who take six years. 

Since the 12.5% return on investment is a median estimate, by definition, half of college grads will wind up with smaller returns, NY Fed reports. But for most graduates, the ROI remains positive.

Still, about a quarter of college graduates may not see a positive ROI at all, the agency says. That could be due to attending an expensive school or working in a low-paying industry post-grad.

If you’re interested in boosting your ROI, consider selecting a major with historically high earning potential. College graduates with engineering, math and computer degrees earn a median 18% return on their investment, NY Fed estimates.

On the other end of the spectrum, those who majored in education earn less than a 6% median ROI. 

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With tariffs creating economic uncertainty, many Americans are rethinking their emergency savings — and whether to keep some physical cash at home.

Not every financial planner thinks physical cash is essential, but some say it’s wise to keep a small amount on hand in case of power outages, natural disasters or payment disruptions.

“I would be comfortable with $500 to $1,000 in cash for unforeseen issues” like a hurricane, says Matthew Saneholtz, a certified financial planner at Tobias Financial Advisors in Florida.

Keeping $300 to $500 at home for emergencies or unexpected cash-only expenses is reasonable, says Crystal McKeon, CFP at TSA Wealth Management.

Keeping cash at home is “a personal choice,” says Melissa Caro, CFP and founder of My Retirement Network. While she says it can be “useful” in some situations, she cautions against relying too heavily on it.

“I wouldn’t go overboard with physical cash, since it’s not FDIC-insured and doesn’t earn interest,” Caro says. FDIC insurance covers up to $250,000 per person, per bank, across all accounts, if the FDIC-insured bank fails.

There are other downsides, too. “It can be subject to loss, theft, destruction or even impulse,” says Nicole Sullivan, CFP and co-founder of Prism Planning Partners. “If you have a significant amount of physical bills on hand, you may be more tempted to spend on ‘extras’ that you otherwise would avoid.”

If you do keep cash at home, be discreet about it, says McKeon: “Even if you think these items are safely stored in a safe, spreading this information is likely to make you a target for thieves.”

Beyond a small stash of cash at home, now is a good time to revisit your emergency fund. Financial planners typically recommend saving three to six months’ worth of essential expenses in a checking or high-yield savings account — someplace accessible, but separate from your day-to-day spending.

But with greater economic uncertainty, you might want to extend those savings to as much as a year’s worth of expenses. “If you are in an industry with layoffs likely ahead … shoot for more like nine to 12 months,” Saneholtz says.

Still, many Americans fall short when it comes to emergency savings. About 42% have no emergency savings, and 40% couldn’t cover a $1,000 expense, according to a 2025 survey from U.S. News & World Report.

If you’re starting from zero, remember that having any sort of financial cushion is better than none. “If you start at $50, it’s more than you had last month,” McKeon says. From there, try to increase your savings as your budget allows, especially by trimming non-essential spending, she says.

For an initial goal, savings of $1,000 is useful “to have on hand to fix your car, to cover small repairs on the house and minor medical situations,” says McKeon.

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