Republican lieutenant governor nominee Kim Guadagno offered different explanations for her son's college search during a campaign stop in Westfield Thursday afternoon.

During a round table discussion with Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie and a group of parents, Guadagno said that her 16-year old son will be looking at colleges this summer with his father and he would not be looking in New Jersey. Her comment reiterated a key Christie/Guadagno campaign argument on higher education, saying that Gov. Jon Corzine has made public higher education more expensive in New Jersey.

"I have a 16-year old going around to colleges this year and we are not visiting a single college in New Jersey," she said. "That should be shameful on the current administration."

During a press conference following the event, Guadagno, the Monmouth County sheriff and former federal prosecutor, offered specfic reasons for her son's decision to look at schools outside New Jersey, that did not implicate the Corzine Administration.

During the press conference, Guadagno said her son, who is currently enrolled in a Navy Junior ROTC program in Monmouth County has been looking at colleges with a Navy ROTC program. There are no colleges with such a program in New Jersey.

Christie and Guadagno lambasted Corzine and former Govs. Jim McGreevey and Dick Codey during the round table for ignoring higher education and for what they said has been cuts in state spending to public higher education. Christie said the state's public colleges have become more expensive during the Corzine years, sending more state students looking for schools out of state. He cited a statistic showing New Jersey sends more students to college out of state than any other state in the union. Guadagno then illustrated the point with her son.