Why is there such ballooning debt among so many new college graduates? Many reasons, say Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus, and the trend has some very long roots. But in this recent Atlantic article, they finger a new prime suspect: colleges and universities themselves, with their lavishly-funded overseas centers, colossal sports palaces, luxurious student residences and other expensive additions all funded by tuition income. Where does that come from? It's borrowed, of course, by the students.
Go to a community college for your first two years, say Hacker and Dreifus, you'll be much less out-of-pocket if you decide to go for a full bachelor's degree elsewhere after that.