<p>I have never understood why there is a compromise with a financial safety. A financial safety is a school that is affordable, that the student will fit and thrive at academically and emotionally. I have never seen the finances and academics as being mutually exclusive. Perhaps it’s because I’m in the midwest where there are excellent colleges that are significantly less expensive than in the east coast. The same can be said for the south and to a certain extent the west. The only compromise might be if you wanted to keep your child close to home and you are in the expensive NE corridor, but it’s not a huge price to pay to send your student out of the region to a quality school if the child is dead set on being around a small number of high achievers in a smaller environment. The concept that the cost associates to quality can be tenuous especially if you take it to the level of the academic major.</p>