The best bet for future college students is to choose a highly employable career path: education, medical technicians, math and computer science, nursing, and engineering. Students who choose a degree program with fewer opportunities need to understand all of the options with their specialized education.
Cut light openings into the stair risers or wall mount the lights. Place lights about every two steps and cut them in the center of each stair riser. Wall lights work well if you have a wall on both sides of the staircase. Wall lights should also be centered. Drill 1/4 inch pilot holes into the riser or wall.
Also, installing carpet on the stairs helped quiet down the sound of trips up and down on the hardwood stairway. We have carpet (berber - wheat color) on the second floor, bedrooms and hall. After trying to live with the hardwood stairway, we decided to just continued that carpet down the steps.