[pilom]

I bet the big difference in experiences relates to what type of school. In state tuition at many state schools can be 1/5 of top-tier private school tuition. Using part time and summer jobs to pay for school that costs $12k/year while living at home is much easier than paying for a school that costs $50k/year plus housing.

[generj]

Yep. To add on to my earlier answer, if I had gone to any of my public in-state universities, the lottery would have paid for all of my tuition and even some of my books. Georgia is a great place to live if you are a graduating high school senior. Lots of my friends have kept the HOPE scholarship their entire college careers.

Depending on what school you attend, it may be worth taking on lots of debt. Certainly Harvard is worth the extra money.