I've noticed a difference in success from my associates who worked in college and did not.
Those who worked no jobs, or worked jobs that were close to their career were able to either network in school or network through those jobs, helping them in their careers.
Those who had to work retail or similar jobs had a much more difficult time getting their career paths started.
Would it have been better to part time both job and college? Instead of 3-4 yrs for a degree, it takes 6-8 years, but you also work part time during.
This route exists for many colleges - why not do this?
Graduated without any debt, but it was rediculously hard, especially in years 4-5.5 when I lost my job (2008 recession) and survived solely off rice, turkey hotdogs, and whitebread (leaving barely enough to cover diapers/medical.