Not only that but if you get in with a company and still want to get your degree they will have tuition assistance programs you can take advantage of and keep your costs down even more.  The traditional way of college only works for a handful of occupations anymore (medical and engineering come to mind).  Why go to school, rack up a bunch of debt for a communications or ethnic studies major when you could have learned the same stuff with an internet connection? The colleges want and need our youth in debt but the older version of these students will be kicking themselves when this realization comes over them in 20-30 years...