The Cost Isn’t Just Money

How One Teacher Is Helping Students Understand the Trade-Offs Behind Financial Decisions

Most students don’t think about the cost of debt until they’re already paying for it. 

By then, decisions have been made. Loans are signed. Monthly payments are set. And the timeline for everything else—like buying a home, getting engaged, and starting a family—is pushed back. 

Levi Hovest wants his students to see those trade-offs earlier. 

At Pandora-Gilboa High School in Ohio, he teaches Foundations in Personal Finance to seniors who are weeks away from filling out the FAFSA and deciding what comes next. It’s a narrow window . . . and one of the last opportunities to slow the process down and help students think through what they’re about to choose. 

Teaching From Experience 

As a college student, Levi took a class on personal finance. His professor used the same Ramsey Education curriculum he now teaches. He saw how impactful it could be, and it changed the direction of his career.

Are you a teacher? Help your students win with money today!

“My dad always talked to me about money skills,” Levi says, “but I didn’t really see other kids going through that class, and that struck me. I was like, ‘I want to teach this stuff.’”

After graduating, Levi and his wife followed the principles he learned in that class to pay off their student loans. It was a long process, but it changed how they approached the rest of their financial decisions.

Now, having taught Foundations in Personal Finance to high schoolers for several years, Levi draws on his journey of paying off debt every day. He doesn’t present personal finance as a set of concepts. He teaches it as an impactful part of life that carries real consequences—and real trade-offs.

Making the Cost Visual 

Early in the course, Levi puts his own student loan debt on the board and walks students through it step by step. He shows them what he owed, plus the interest rates and the monthly payments. Then, he explains what that commitment looks like over time. He’s honest about how long it takes to pay off debt and how much he lost to interest along the way. 

For many students, it’s the first time those numbers feel real. They’ve never heard someone be real about their finances, or seen the cost of student loans broken down before.

Then, Levi helps students consider the trade-offs of taking on that kind of debt. 

“What if instead of having to pay this back, I was able to invest it?” he asks.

That question changes the conversation.  

Students begin to see that financial decisions aren’t just about a dollar amount that has to be paid. They’re about what that cost replaces: time, flexibility, options, and the ability to move forward with other plans.

Turning Awareness Into Action 

Levi builds that awareness by having students track the scholarships they apply for throughout the semester and the amount they could earn.  

By the time they reach the senior awards banquet, those scholarships pay off—sometimes resulting in full rides to in-state schools. 

“We’ve had a decent amount of students start out their college path with full rides,” Levi says. “That’s one of the things I’m most proud about with this class.”  

Even without full rides, students begin to make different choices—applying for more scholarships, working extra shifts, and paying what they can up front. 

And Levi brings former students back to speak with current seniors. They share how they paid for college, what it took to avoid debt, and how those choices affected their lives after graduation.

“They like hearing from former students who were sitting in the same classroom just a few years ago,” he says.

The Long-Term Goal 

Levi has been teaching personal finance long enough to see what happens after his students leave the classroom. Some purchase their first home. Others start families or step into the next stage of life with fewer financial obstacles.

“They’re buying houses down the street,” he says. “Some of them are expecting kids soon.”  

Not every student follows the same path. But more of them are moving forward with a clearer understanding of their options and the financial decisions it takes to get there. 

For Levi, that’s the goal. 

Because when students understand the trade-offs of their decisions earlier, they don’t just manage money differently. They move through life differently.