On: On average, skipping college and investing tuition...

[nfriedly]

The down side of this is that most kids are spending money they don't actually have - the loans are for college only, so investing it isn't an option.

I'm personally very grateful that I was able to graduate without any debt. Things that helped me included:

* Starting at a community college (2 years @ ~$3k/yr) then switching to a state school (3 years @ ~$10k/yr)

* Grants and scholarships that paid for around 1/3 of my costs

* Money from my parents (~$2k)

* Freelancing at $45/hr+

* Getting married (because the government stopped counting my parents money against me, and so I was eligible for more grant money)