<p>This is a timely post as I was just in Barnes and Noble the other day and flipped through a book titled “The New College Reality” by Bonnie Kerrigan Snyder. In her book Ms. Snyder covers the topic of taking out school loans for an expensive school or attending your in-state school (especially with an honors program). If you were to read this book I think it would give you a good basis for helping to make the decision. In our family we were determined to have our kids graduate from college with no student loan debt. Our daughter earned her degree at our in-state school, graduated with honors and got a job right away. In fact, she just bought a house, on her own, this year and has no student loans to hinder her (or us). Our son attends the honors college with a merit scholarship and will also graduate with no debt. He plans on continuing to professional school and will be better able to fund that with no undergraduate debt attached to him. Both kids fit in great at the university and had/are having great experiences. So at least for family this route worked out great. Best wishes to your DD!</p>