College is a trap.
That being said, I wouldn't trade my student debt or experience to have the struggles of some of the people I graduated from HS with, that didn't go. I consistently have to remind myself that although I may own my first born to Federal Loan Servicing... I'm also not doing something that makes miserable everyday.... Like I'd rather be in the student loan struggle... than in the minimum wage struggle.
I could go on for days about the injustice about funding college expenses in America, but I really don't want my blood pressure to skyrocket.
I will say that my younger sister does attend college out of state, however she was able get in state tuition thanks to the Academic Common Market. If there is something similar in your area, you should look in to it. You can get in state tuition at an out of state school if your intended major is not offered in your state. That being said, I can not stress enough....how foolish it is, to go to an out of state school to major in something simply (biology, education, nursing, coloring, rock climbing ) whatever.... that you could have majored in at a public school in your state. I cannot stress enough how stupid it is, for example, to live in South Carolina but opt to go to Alabama...or Ole Miss...or Georgia....when you can literally get the same stereotypical SEC experience at USC .
Chances are you're going to get into student loan debt... chances are it will probably be worth it....but there's also ways to avoid getting in over your head and only having a bachelors to show for it.... because yes... a bachelors is the new high school diploma.
For better or for worse.
That's all I've got to say about that.