Not sure if this was meant to warn against loans...?

Anyway, loans for education are not bad but realize that they are an investment. It has more than pure monetary value but looking at the numbers can keep you grounded to reality.

Say you can go to a state school that $50,000 total or a private school that costs $200,000 total. There is a $150,000 difference in price. You can think of this difference as the amount you are paying for your better job prospects after graduation from the private school.

Here comes the personal finance part; it may seen complicated but is worth understanding. The $150,000 is the present value of a series of payments (the difference in your salary) over your life. $150,000 is the present value of 40-45 years of annuity payments.

At a 6% interest rate (this seemed reasonable to me but you can play with to see how it changes the amount), you would need to make nearly $10,000 more per year FOR YOUR WHOLE LIFE in order to make going to the private school worth it. (the $10,000 is the payment given to you each year over 40 years that is worth $150,000 in today's money, given an interest rate of 6%).

Hopefully this made sense. If not just ask and I should be able to explain more.