<prompt> Human: Okay, I know this is probably a stupid question to ask on a finance thread because I know what everyone is going to say but here we go. Up until today, I was 100 sure I was going to go to University of Miami. Which, of course, is quite expensive. According to my calculations, after my scholarship and financial aid, itll cost me 30,000 per year including textbooksrandom necessities for moving. Now, my parents are able to pay 15,000 of that each year, and I currently have 2,000 saved up. I am also working two jobs, and will be able to earn at least another 8,000 before I leave. That brings it down to about 5,000 in debt for the first year. I also plan on doing a work study program the whole time Im there. Im confident that I will be able to handle the costs. Its also the college Ive been dreaming about for years. Today I discovered that I am also able to go to University of Texas at Dallas. For free. As in, I will get complete coverage of tuition and fees, a 4,000 cash stipend per semester to spend on whatever textbooks or other necessities, 1,500 towards on-campus housing, and a one-time 6,000 study abroad stipend. One catch, I have to officially choose this school by Sunday. I have visited UTD and I dont hate it by any means, but its not quite what Id been hoping for. Anyway, Im not asking for someone to make a decision for me. Its more of, I wanna hear peoples experience with student loans and is it ever worth it? I mean, is the debt really manageable or am I just fooling myself? I know that on paper, utd is the obvious choice but I also know how perfect miami seems. Anyway, what do you think?  <response>: I would pick Dallas in a heartbeat.Literally getting paid to go to school is a crapload better than going into eyeballs deep debt to go to school. 