Higher Education: No Longer a Destination But a Journey... This guide is intended to help prepare prospective students for their college search. A blend of overall concepts and real life scenarios are used to help readers apply some of these concepts to their own life. Scenarios of people from all walks of life and different backgrounds are used to help guide you. This author believes that the process of becoming a lifelong learner takes place in stages, and each stage builds upon the previous stage. Therefore, if in your first stage of professional discovery, you are stuck with a large student loan, this could prevent you from achieving personal mastery. If you are in middle school, a high school senior, a veteran, an adult with or without a degree, a student with disability, an ex-convict, or an undocumented or international student, this guide will help you select the right college, university or proprietary school, the right program and at the right price.