It doesn't make sense to go into debt, sure. But if you can get someone else to pay for college (i.e., a generous scholarship) it's well worth it, and the tuit

It doesn't make sense to go into debt, sure. But if you can get someone else to pay for college (i.e., a generous scholarship) it's well worth it, and the tuition costs pre-tuition spiral would definitely be worth it as well. It's difficult to think of a better way to cultivate personal relationships than college. Presumably you've chosen classes based off your own interests, so the people you meet within those classes are good candidates for friendship (via homophily). True, you could use subreddits to find folks with similar interests, but in my experience those don't lead to the same kinds of relationships you develop when you physically encounter other people. Building a state park a la the New Deal CCC doesn't really create the same sense of shared interest since no one's actually interested in the art of bricklaying for the most part, and volunteering has a lot of turnover (mostly due to folks using it as a resume item). If you're at a SLAC, the number of people you see is limited so there's less competition for attention when forming bonds and a lot of mere exposure effect. The value of college (at least at a SLAC) is arguably less about the classroom lessons and more about having a decent method for finding other people you can grow with.