If I had the choice of loans for a college degree or skipping the degree, I'd personally skip the degree. My "hack" when I knew I couldn't pay for MIT was to g

If I had the choice of loans for a college degree or skipping the degree, I'd personally skip the degree. My "hack" when I knew I couldn't pay for MIT was to get accepted and then just not pay -- I got to take the classes up then got retroactively deregistered around finals time. I kept that up for about 2y until I found a great startup opportunity. If I had been saddled with $100-200k of debt, I would have been pushed into taking a high cash comp/high stability job rather than doing crazy startups. Ironically unpaid tuition directly to the bursar vs a loan is just regular debt, and would be discharged through bankruptcy (although MIT just forgave mine). For the very rich (for whom tuition is still insignificant) or the poor and minorities (who win from various forms of non loan financial aid), it seems like college is a rational choice. Otherwise, unless you really need the degree for a specific credentialed career (government, law, or medicine), I would probably discourage college. I do wish I could do a phd in infosec+economics somewhere today, but that is really the only thing I can't readily do without an undergrad degree.