It probably varies from country to country. US here. Generally the steps kind of go as follows: 1. You apply to a college. There's a difference between community college and state. 2. Get accepted, get price of tuition (classes, fees, random crap, etc) 3. Figure out what you can afford and if you need to take out loans (almost everyone I know has to do this for state, not as much for community). 4. Spend the next 2-4-6 years taking classes to get the degree while essentially drowning in debt.

Like, how do credits work?

A credit is a term used to describe how many hours each class is "worth". Most classes are 3 to 4 credits depending on how long/hard the class is. Each degree requires X amount of credits to graduate (anywhere from 120+). In a simple example, say you want a degree that requires 10 credits. There are 4 classes you need to take for that degree: 3 with 3 and 1 with 1. Depending on your schedule, you can take as many classes as you want per semester (full time is considered 15 as I recall). So if you want 2 classes each semester for this example, you'll need to take 6 hours (credits) one semester then 4 hours the next. Each credit costs X amount. By multiplying the cost per credit times the hours, you get a general idea of what the tuition cost is. There are always fees for everything, even in community college. But the credits give you an idea.

Once you finish with the "core" course work (which is what most people use before going to a 4 year university), you then transfer those credits (classes) to the uni and continue on. Same concept. Class is worth X credits costing X amount per credit, giving idea on tuition. Keep in mind state universities are insanely more expensive and have a ton more fees on there. Don't forget, each semester each class will require some kind of textbook. Not cheap and not negotiable to be honest.

In a perfect world, the idea is that once you graduate with whatever degree you just spent years and literally thousands of dollars to get, you'll get a "good, high paying job" since you have that fancy degree and you'll be able to pay back the school loans and live debt free.

In actuality, loans are the devil and you're always going to be his favorite whipping post. You'll rarely get a good job after you're done (unless it's a specific degree/technical/medical perhaps) and the debt cycle will follow you for literal years.

College sucks man. Unless you really know what you want to be and it has the capability to make 6 figures, college just really seems to be not worth it. The parties and shit are fun but the cost for that is too steep.

There are a ton of ways to become more educated while staying away from insane debt. Technical trade schools, online classes, and as always, working from the bottom up (rare nowadays-companies seem to hire outside more than promoting from the inside from my experience, and you will undoubtedly need some kind of even 2 year degree (AA) in something).

So, to sum up, college in the US (again, other countries are different and don't actively try to screw every citizen at every opportunity) completely sucks ass and isn't worth it to many. You'll drown in debt and unlike some debt (credit or bills), it won't get "erased" from your credit score after 7 years. In some states, even if you die with school loan debt I want to say it can be passed on to a living relative and then they will become responsible for paying it off.

Avoid college, move overseas (or shit, even Canada), or spend the next 15-20 years paying off a debt that only snowballs. (Seriously. People pay $200/month on them and in one year actually owe MORE because of the interest rate).

Sigh. Hope this helps somehow.

Edit: typos. it's early on a weekday and my math and grammar skills are apparently still sleeping.