[creer]

Money-wise, the US (where you say you are) are stuffed-full of financial help plans, scholarships, grants and aid schemes of all sorts. Many of these are small grantors which may grant just a few or one grant each year. Some pay just a few thousand, some everything you need. To the point that finding how to use this is very difficult and I feel most students don't bother because they don't know how. Same for most school bureaucrats or advisors? I don't know the way through them - but it feels like a highly underexploited resource. In contrast soooo many people go for student loans (which are obvious but more painful in the long term.)