It's possible they were pushing her towards those decisions. I know I was told by teachers, parents, and guidance counselors that you go to the best school you could get into. At that time (early 2000s), student debt was considered "good debt" and it would pay off. Even now, my parent that pushed me in the wrong financial direction argues that my student loan debt (with my massive debt to income ratio) isn't a problem, and I should buy a house/condo.

Also, a problem when people are not expecting that things will not go according to plan. My parents originally said they'd pay off the undergrad portion. I'm still working down those undergrad loans.