<prompt> Human: Hello to this sub!Thank you so much for all of the information and effort everyone puts on here. It really made me more aware about issues of money. That said, as a minor and a rather sheltered one at that, Im quite overwhelmed and stressed out because of college and the inevitability of student loans. Im terrified for the future I just subjected myself too, and revelations of some family financial secrets that I didnt know about have made my fears worse. I want to do anything I can to prevent the worst of my debt early on. Id like to apologize in advance if I get some financial terms wrong or fail to explain myself properly because Im still learning about everything at once and its a lot. My current situation: I apparently have 1k USD cash in savings in some bank, close to another 1k invested in stocks, and a couple hundred dollars in my joint account with my mother. The latter is something I have access to and knowledge about. The others I havent known of until I had to apply for FAFSA. I have no credit card. I have to pay 15k in student loans for the next 4 years to finance my education at a state college. Im applying to scholarships but no luck so far. Im interviewing for a job and will make around 15hr as a part-time student if I get hired. Im very lucky right now to be taken care of by my parents and to be living comfortably even though our financial stuff is all changing and complicated. However, the problem lies in my parents financing. They have some financial problems because of their divorce. In this, somehow, my mother lost her retirement fund if thats possible and shes approaching 50, so shes screwed. I have a younger brother going to college in the next couple of years. My parents have to take out 22k in PLUS loans for just my four-year education, on top of increased property tax of 8k per year and a second house for my dad because of joint custody. I might lose my stocks to help pay for everything. I admit my parents are not really frugal or the best at budgeting and now were in a very precarious situation where were living like we still have money we used to have. This gives me the personal responsibility to take as much burden off of my parents shoulders as possible by later taking care of my moms retirement fund when she retires its our culture to take care of our aging parents once we grow up, financing my own stuff as efficiently as possible, and maybe even paying for my brothers college education. I have no idea where to start. I want to start budgeting for my loans, learning as much as I can about PLUS and my parents retirement and divorce crisis. Jobs are not going to be enough for this. Do I have to go into investing? Do I have to change my career to go towards a more lucrative field? I absolutely hate STEM but I also hate the idea of crippling debt. My parents absolutely refuse to let up on my college because theyve prioritized this so much so community college is an absolute, were-going-to-get-evicted situation as a fall-back to save money. TLDR: Still a minor, my familys bad financial situation is going to bite me in the ass later, and I need information and help to plan or just a place to start. I have no idea how to do any of this still, so Im going in with almost no knowledge assuming stupidly that my parents would take care of it for me. EDIT: First of all, I did not expect so many comments, holy crap! Im so grateful for the help, I cant thank everyone enough. Some more information: Im an Asian-American female about to go to University of Washington as a pre-sciences major. Also, correction: I would have to pay 15k per year, not four years overall. I had a talk with my parents and to say that it went very badly is an understatement. I understand a good majority of the posters advocate for 2 years of community college or a pursuit of a trade, especially because I dont have a set career path right now. While that appeals to me, I basically have to choose between being disowned and going to CC or going to UW. Its not a hard choice. That said, Im going to continue to pester my financial aid advisor for help, apply for scholarships, and Im going to have to find a more lucrative career path to balance out my loans. Assistant: 15k for 4 years is not bad at all, unless youve chosen a degree that has no real world use underwater basket weaving.I graduated with 25k for 5 years at a state school, and had it easily paid off in 3.5 years. And that was with a lengthy period of time where I had trouble finding a good job, and supported myself 100 except family covered cell phone bill.While your in school though, keep applying for scholarships. Every little bit you get is a little bit of loans you dont have to pay back essentially. Its worth the effort to write some short essays or whatever they require.Human: Ugh sorry what I meant was 15k per year for four years but Im also worried about my parents and their PLUS loans  <response>: It might be your culture to support your parents, but its also your culture for your parents to help you through college or, at least, your culture for kids to not graduate from college with massive debt and limited job advancement opportunities. Culture has changed. You can either convince society to restructure college expenses for you, magically give your parents enough money and planning skills to be able to cover your college expenses, or...not take on the burden of helping your mom retire. 