It's possible to to complete a college education on a budget. For those who don't win merit scholarships -- there is the alternative pathway of local community college for the first two years, followed by the final two years at state U. There are always spaces in the Junior and Senior state U classes because the dropout rate is so high. This pathway costs a small fraction of a private college (and results in a small fraction of the debt) for a BA or BS degree.
Wow, interesting graph.
We, and many others I know, did college on a budget. Our state has programs that allow a high school kid to take community college classes that count as high school and college credit, no tuition required...so AA earned with no tuition, and a high school diploma awarded at the same time without ever having to step foot inside a HS (we homeschooled till 9th grade, then transferred to the CC in our town.)
Merit scholarship in our state is not decided on race but purely on merit. Good SAT or ACT scores, high GPA and community service will allow merit scholarship for tuition at State U...so last 2 years of Bachelor’s is paid for.
Our kid did grad school at a private U in our area...good reputation Graduate School...high GMAT earned him a TA job...which equaled free tuition and a small stipend in exchange for working for a prof.
Live at home and your only costs are gas and books. Like I said, I know several families whose children have gone this route, we weren’t an isolated case (and btw, if they go straight through they’re finished with grad school at 21 or 22 because of the head start the AA gave them during high school.)