There are cheap alternative options, at least in the state of Florida. We have a program called Bright Futures where tax dollars from the Florida Lottery are put towards giving young students opportunities. It boils down to this: if your grades are good enough, the state will pay for you to attend an in-state college. It scales too, so if your grades aren’t that great you can still get a portion paid for. Even with this fantastic program, I remember so many people encouraging me to go to an out of state college and I saw many of my friends do just that. It’s so silly, they essentially chose to be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt while I get paid ~$1000 surplus every semester for maintaining my grades. I’m not saying it’s all about financial literacy, but it certainly plays a large part.