I can only go to school because I have a full-tuition scholarship to my school, and I usually qualify for a good amount in Pell Grants. This past year, I did have to take out a small loan (2k) to cover what those did not.

If I had taken a year off, I would have lost my scholarship to this school. That's the way a lot of scholarships work, they're only for people coming in straight from high school. Without my scholarship, I'd have to take out at least 8k in loans each year just to cover tuition. Why on earth would I make that stupid choice and delay myself from getting a degree which will get me a better job?

Let's say I did take a year off, working minimum wage, full-time (nevermind the likelihood of finding a full-time minimum wage job in this economy.) I'd make $15,080 in a year, before taxes. Factoring in taxes, I'd take home about $12,896. Now, let's factor in some other costs:

Car Insurance: $100/month (good luck getting a cheaper rate as an 18 year old driver) which is $1,200/year.

Gas: Let's say you drive a car that gets 30mpg (generous, considering as an 18 year old, you probably can't afford a car with gas mileage that good, but let's just assume) and has a 13 gallon tank. Let's also say you have to drive 5 miles to your workplace (again, generous.) That's a ten mile roundtrip, which means you use a gallon of gas every three days. Since you're probably working five days a week to get to 40 hours per week, you will have to fill up every 39 days. That's if you were purely going to work on that. You of course have other errands to run, things to do, etc. So, we'll cut that down to a fillup every 35 days. At current gas prices, which in my area is $2.97/gallon (an extreme low for the year, it's usually not like this, so don't get used to it) is $38.61. You'll have to fill up about 11 times per year, which will add up to $424.71.

This is all assuming you already have a car. Maybe your parents were nice and got you a gently used, slightly older car for graduation that will serve you well. Maybe they didn't, and you have to buy a $400 rusted out Pinto that barely runs. Let's be positive for now though.

Car Maintenance: $500/year. There's lots of routine work that you have to constantly do that adds up. This is also accounting for anything that might happen, (such as the engine dying, needing a new battery, radiator overheating) that insurance won't cover.

You might say, "You don't need a car." In an area with a wonderful public transportation service, this might be true. In America though, these are few and far between. Not having a car is a major barrier to employment. Employers are not legally supposed to discriminate against hiring you for not having a car, but we all know what really happens.

Food: $120/month, to get enough food to have three well-balanced meals each day. No need to be malnourished. If you're malnourished and tired, your job performance is likely to suffer and you might have your hours cut, or you might even be fired. Maybe you qualify for foodstamps, but you probably won't. $1,440/year

Rent: $350/month or $3,780/year. This is a really generous estimate too. You might say, "Just stay at home with your parents!" This is a viable option for those whose parents don't kick them out at 18. Hopefully you can stay with them, and hopefully they won't ask you to pay them rent.

Utilities: $100/month and $1,200/year. That's just electricity, water, and maybe sanitation.

Misc.: You're going to need toiletries like toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, deoderant, etc. Don't tell me you expect someone to have no personal hygiene and keep a job. We'll say this is about $20/month and $240/year.

So, overall you've got: $8,544.71 in expenses. Hope you never get sick or need dental work, because even if you're on your parents' insurance (which people like Romney are trying to do away with), you're still going to be stuck paying a copay (depending on your insurance, it can be as little as $25 or as much as $150.) Don't forget things that insurance won't cover, all the things your insurance company will try to deny coverage for, and all the stress you'll be put under from fighting tooth and nail with them about.

So, of a take-home pay of $12,896 you spend about $8,544.71 just getting by. This leaves you with a profit of $4351.29. That would pay for about one semester of tuition at my university, which is one of the cheapest around.

So, basically, you slave away, living in the bare minimum conditions, to make a tiny dent in a tuition cost that is constantly rising at outrageous rates.

I'm sorry sir, but it is just no longer financially sensible to try to save up all the money to go to college. The costs will outpace your earnings before you can even blink.