Hello, former young financial idiot here with middle class anti-mustachian parents meaning (in this context) I didn't have any money set aside for college. I went to a slightly below average public school in a metropolitan area (below avg. in terms of college preparedness for its students, purely my opinion) and made excellent grades but had no AP credit or any other sort of college credit before entrance. Anyway I graduated from a good state university (in state tuition) and went to another state university (out of state tuition) for my M.S. It took 6 years in total for both degrees and the total of my federal loans was around 85k, ignoring Parent PLUS loans. Nearly two years into my career and I'm making a little under 70k so the investment was worth it to me thus far (loans should be paid off in 5 total years, 3 to go) even though my way had to be borrowed to get through. The state I attended undergrad in didn't have any free or reduced tuition (other than the in-state rate which was 6200 for my freshmen year). Out of state tuition for grad school hurt, $1000 per credit hour, but my field was/is quite narrow in scope and isn't offered too many places and did end up making me directly hire-able in a technical position right out of school.
Looking back financially, I wish I would've went to cc for 2 years and then transferred but as it's been pointed out, that isn't always a guarantee. I don't really blame my parents as they're awesome in other ways and the worth of my upbringing far outweighs having to trudge into debt for my tertiary education. I was stupid then and easily could've been more frugal but I had a great time in college and I have no regrets. One thing I wish was different was that the public education system, at least in my experience, is/had been better about educating students (and parents) about personal finance and college choices and the expense/debt involved. My parents certainly didn't have that financial information and college expenses were vastly different in their time. I think public education could be much better with a few tweaks for college-bound students. e.g. more active counselors, personal finance class, seminars/assemblies for seniors, etc. I realize this varies across every imaginable area and some public schools may already be doing this in some ways but I don't think it is necessarily fair to castigate 17/18 year olds for making sub-optimal financial decisions regarding going to college and taking on debt. I'm happy to be where I am career-wise and the path to FI is still a major work in progress but I don't think the average person with 85k in loan debt with a master's pays it off in 5 years for a variety of reasons. Yes, many of these are probably related to their anti-mustachian ways but when is the accepted age to be a mustachioed adult? 18? 22? 25? There is no perfect answer of course but I just think more light needs to be shed for 17/18 year olds regarding the long-term financial implications of the years immediately following high school.