I went to a state school and worked, epecially in the summer when I would pull OT every week it kinda covered rent for the most part and that was it. If I had w

I went to a state school and worked, epecially in the summer when I would pull OT every week it kinda covered rent for the most part and that was it. If I had worked enough to pay for tuition as well it would have gone past inconvenience and become close to impossible to accomplish while also maintaining grades. Going to community college first was a smart idea and I recommend it to anyone thinking about college, but at least when I was in the school system we were actively told not to endager our future and go to "real" school instead. We can't expect children, in significant numbers, to be able to see past the advice being given to them by their elders. Ah you graduated in 2007, it did indeed change drastically after that. The next year the recession hit and schools everywhere had massive price hikes. My school saw a 12% hike in one year and the price went up almost as much every year after that. IIRC some state schools in California saw hikes near 30%. None of these hikes have been reversed and the price has just gotten worse and worse every year.