Yep. Of a total bill of about $6k (excluding room and board), the scholarship is worth $1k. Still, it's cheap, cheap, cheap, which is my family's sole criteria for selecting a college, by necessity.
My daughter did two years of CC and commuted. It’s was cheap enough to pay on my Amex card every semester. Then she transferred to a decent private 4 year college. She kept commuting and kept her job. She is “burdened” with about 1/8th the student loan debt as her peers.
It doesn’t have to be a huge burden.
Many parents and counsellors make kids feel they have to get into the “right” school. My daughter had it planned from the start of her junior year of HS. As such, she could skip all of the Junior/Senior testing and angst.
And, she graduated from college with a BS in. Good field and a job where she interned.