If you go the conventional route and only take loans. Community college + working through that means you can get potentially better college options when you transfer AND you can save significantly for those first years of your undergrad.
By the time I transferred I had saved enough to cover the full tuition + living costs for my last two years of college, coming out debt-free.
The big acknowledgment I'll make is that rent where I'm from was really cheap and I'm generally on the frugal side, so I was able to save up most of my income those first few years of college. I recognize not everyone is in that kind of position, but if people are they really should take advantage of this system if they really want to go to college.
By the time I transferred I had saved enough to cover the full tuition + living costs for my last two years of college, coming out debt-free.
The big acknowledgment I'll make is that rent where I'm from was really cheap and I'm generally on the frugal side, so I was able to save up most of my income those first few years of college. I recognize not everyone is in that kind of position, but if people are they really should take advantage of this system if they really want to go to college.