<prompt> Human: A friend of mine was recently offered a full athletic scholarship to a private college in the South, including housing and a potential 5th year if he redshirts. However, he was also offered a partial scholarship at Georgetown, which he loved during his visit. He is looking at anywhere between 60,000 and 90,000 in student loan debt if he goes to Georgetown. He is torn between the two schools. Originally I tried to convince him to consider the full-ride because of the long-term consequences of taking on this much debt, but he is still unsure of what to do as he has wanted to compete for Georgetown for years. PF can you help him out?  <response>: I had a full athletic scholarship through college and received a 5th year as I resdshirted. I was also accepted into a number of good schools some of which I had personal ties to, but no scholarship. If the scholarship is to a good name brand school it should be a no brainer to accept it. You cannot understate the gift of graduating without student loan debt. He can buy a house years earlier and have way more financial flexibility immediately after graduation. Having varsity athletics on your resume gives you a huge boost as many employers understand that is massive time commitment.The networking that goes with playing a varsity sport in college is incredibly valuable as well. This might be a different story if his scholarship is to a small non-target school, but either way a free education is an amazing thing. Obviously, he still has to do well in school while playing a sport. Your friend will definitely earn every penny of that scholarship through hard work, but in the end he will be better off for it. I struggled with the same dilemma your friend is facing and in hindsight accepting the scholarship was the best decision I ever made. 