And again, I'll ask - how much were you paying for rent/housing? food? car/transportation/gas?

I did not pay anything for rent because I was living in a single room in the basement of a rooming house in exchange for cleaning the community kitchen, bathrooms and living room once a week. I did not own a car. I walked or rode my bicycle in the nice weather and took the bus in the bad weather. I don't remember how much I spent on food but it couldn't have been much - I was always dieting and couldn't have weighed more than 110 pounds at the time.

A person making minimum wage probably takes home $250/wk. Rent is 2 weeks work, utilities another weeks work - which leaves about $250 for food/gas/sundries. For the month. On what money are they supposed to go to school? "Take out loans" you say? Ya still gotta be enrolled at least 'half-time' which, I'm guessing is 6-9 hours. And the Fed loans (the easiest) max out around 27,500.

Actually, I would never say "take out loans". It is not easy, I know from my own experience. I know that a college education has gotten very expensive but there are some cheaper alternatives. For example, on-line universities. Also, I want to know why everyone needs a four year degree. There are some very good technical schools that are much less expensive and can provide one with the skills required to earn more than the minimum wage.