Should I take out student loans?

39,000 is a lot for any college.

i have been in school for 6 years now and i have transferred to 4 different schools in three states so i know a thing or two about the 'system'.

your average tuition shouldn't be more then $20,000-23,000. just 3-4 years ago i used to pay little over 12,000 for tuition and housing but now thats jumped to around 19,000....which is still pretty expensive.

i wasted my first year because i apparently thought the same way you are thinking now....i wanted to go to school for the lifestyle change more then anything and that cost me $12,000 because i got bored and dropped out...........and ended up going to a community school.

trust me, take my advice....

start in a community school because u don't pay thousands of dollars. the state and federal grants will probably cover ALL of your tuition at a community school. in your case....savings of 78,000 dollars which is HUGE.

in a community school your education wont be any different and here is why.......the first two years of college is 'general education' during which time you HAVE to take BS classes like humanities, bio, math, chem, english, phsy etc......you can take all these classes at a community school and get 'em done in 2 years. once you have 'em done, the community school will award you the associates degree.

you can then go to a university and still enjoy the college lifestyle for 2 years or more depending on how fast you want to get through.

besides saving 78,000 thousand dollars on BS classes.....you will also have another HUGE advantage..... your GPA WONT transfer to your university from a community college. the universities only accept the classes you have passed and they don't use the community college GPA as their own........so long story short....you start clean at the university regardless of how you do at the community school. and then on top of that you would only have 2 years in the university (starting fresh) so you can slack off big time and still graduate with a high GPA.

so go to a community college

get your associates in arts

save 78,000 dollars (not worth paying for general ed at any school)

and start clean at a university with only 2 more years to go.

Student loans are great if it's your only means of going to college, but they are a pain to pay back. $39,000 a year for 4 years. Wow. I would do whatever I could to keep costs as low as possible. And yes, the college experience is great, but alot of kids get into trouble with partying etc. You have to decide what's most important. Getting your education and having a good time at the same time and making lots of friends or just getting it done and being less in debt. I only borrowed $20,000 for a 4 yr degree and had to pay $250/month for 10 yrs. I thought it would never end.

I suggest community college. It's cheaper and students who graduate from there first, then transfer to a four year school, have higher GPAs and better graduation rates. BTW - if you DO decide to take out a student loan, go for the SUBSIDIZED STAFFORD, that means the loan doesn't accrue interest as long as you are enrolled .... the unsubsidized loan does accrue interest even while you're still a student.

At a community college you still get a lot of the classes you need at a lower tuition rate. These classes don't have a lower standard of instruction. Go for it and then transfer once you have all the basic classes. Goodluck. Education is very expensive but will be well worth it.

Even if you go to community college it is going to cost you several thousand and still even if you go to a junior college and then a 4 year college you are still going to have to take out a student loan. I have student loans and you know what, I wouldn't trade the money I owe for anything. The college experiences I gained greatly out weigh the amount I owe. So yes it is worth it.