Anecdotal: I went to an "expensive fancy" private college and I was lucky enough to have parents who knew how to advocate for financial aid.
In the end I ended up with +40k in scholarships as a mediocre high school student, plus a bunch of state grants.
I graduated with <30k of debt, which I paid off aggressively with my programmer job.
I like college. There is a right way to do it as an average student:
- Two years of cheap community college to get the chaff out of the way
- Two years in a better school for the higher level classes.
You can't think of it is a party or 'summer camp' which is an image which is sold to a lot of young people. You are there to learn a skill, improve yourself, and graduate into a career.
In the end I ended up with +40k in scholarships as a mediocre high school student, plus a bunch of state grants.
I graduated with <30k of debt, which I paid off aggressively with my programmer job.
I like college. There is a right way to do it as an average student:
- Two years of cheap community college to get the chaff out of the way - Two years in a better school for the higher level classes.
You can't think of it is a party or 'summer camp' which is an image which is sold to a lot of young people. You are there to learn a skill, improve yourself, and graduate into a career.