I wish I had taken the full ride offered to me by my state flagship. Instead, each year I borrowed the max federal student loan amount to go to a higher ranked private university. Plus I took out additional loans for grad school. It took a painfully long time to pay it all back.
By the time I entered grad school, no one cared what undergrad college I went to. Now that I’ve been working for many years, if ever I need to mention my educational credentials, i only mention my graduate degree.