<prompt> Human: I want to go to Johnson And Whales University But I dont have the funds to cover the cost of everything the 4 years I will be there the other option is to go to a local college and commute its a very small campus but I would like to go to the college stated above sorry for wall of text. I would like to not take out loans due to my dads low credit what are some options?  <response>: I usually come here for advice, not to give it, but I can tell you that paying 30,000 per year for a Johnson and Wales CS degree is a massive mistake, at least financially speaking. JW isnt going to open any doors for you that plain old regular experience cant. Matter of fact, plain old regular experience will open many more. A huge frustration I hear from devs is that they paid all this money for a top state school better than JW on paper and they are working alongside people who did a coding boot camp a few years ago and making the same . If Im you I go to a community college or small cheap local school for my first two years and build college credit that is transferable anywhere while getting real world experience in your field maybe as a QA analyst or something see what you can find.After two years I see what my options are for transferring my credits to a top institution for CS that actually will open doors. Use some of those two years doing research into what those schools are so youll know better than me when making that call.If I get into something worth it, transfer and pay 2 years tuition for the top school instead of 4 and get the same degree. If not, continue at the small school and build my real world experience working for start ups or getting gigs from odesk or something.There is a tremendous range in CS pay. Yes, the high end makes bank. But a JW degree and minimal work experience will have you competing against contractors in India. Get work experience and if you cant go to a great or very good school just go to the cheapest and focus on experience. 