While in high school in Wisconsin, Zechariah Kitzhaber considered both private and public colleges. After talking with his parents, he knew he wanted to go to the college that could make it the most affordable. “Cost was definitely one of the biggest factors when I was picking colleges,” Kitzhaber remembered. “I was mainly looking at larger schools but a few smaller schools too. I didn’t want to go into debt if I didn’t have to.”

He was pleasantly surprised with the financial aid package from the Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and opted for the Winona institution.

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