You may be able to get into “better” schools but your ED school isn’t exactly chopped liver. In addition, it is part of a consortium with some great schools, so while you may not seem totally enthralled with it, it’s actually a good choice. Truth be told, I’d pick Scripps over almost all the other schools on your list except maybe CMC and that’s part of the consortium.
To answer the question in your title: it is far worse to have crippling debt for the next couple of decades than to have “no freedom” (I seriously doubt this) for four years.