Like many recent high school graduates choosing their careers, Bradley, who declined to give his full name, once felt the pressure of trying to have it all figured out in his late teens. A degree felt like a life or death decision for your future.
With no strong interests outside of baking and pastries, he enrolled in the prestigious Culinary Institute of America. But a week before graduation, with little financial guidance or preparation, he learned he’d racked up $134,000 in debt. With interest, that ballooned to about $147,000. His monthly payments were projected to hit $1,500, even while earning only $12 to $13 an hour at his first farm-to-table restaurant job in upstate New York.
