If we actually had free and responsible media any more, college costs (especially to middle-class parents and students) would be a national scandal. And not only because of debts incurred in the arts; all the humanities present the same problem. There are no jobs that justify the exorbitant cost of college in the U.S. today (except for in law, medicine and some of the sciences; and I'm told there's now a glut of lawyers).
I am a step-parent. My son graduated with a degree from Cal Arts in 1986, and is an excellent graphic designer. He lives very frugally and still hasn't finished paying off his college loans.
If your grades are very good (or if you are very talented in some field) look at elite private schools that dole out a lot of scholarship money. Harvard, for example, pretty much guarantees that anyone they admit will have the money to attend. I paid nothing to get a B.A. from Columbia. The problem at such schools is for middle-class parents: what the college says they should contribute may not be what they budgeted, especially if they have multiple kids.
If a private school won't pay for you to attend, go to a public, in-state college. (I got my graduate degrees relatively economically at UCLA.) Even the lower ranked schools will have some good faculty members and you can find their classes. Better yet, live at home and go to your local community college for a couple of years; you can fulfill the same general requirements at a fraction of the cost.
Only a very few schools ultimately matter in terms of getting work in the theater: Juilliard, Yale, maybe Carnegie-Melon and whatever else is cool at the moment.
If you are VERY mature, forget a formal college degree and set out for NYC or LA at the age of 18. But living in big cities is almost as expensive as going to college, so unless your parents can support you, be prepare to spend most of your time working at a menial job. Take acting (directing, playwriting, etc.) classes wherever you can find them, just to keep your skills current and to meet other people in your industry.
Otherwise, go to the college you can afford, educate yourself and enjoy yourself for a few years. Artists need to know things other than how to draw or sing if their art is to have content as well as form. But saddling yourself with tens of thousands of dollars of debt before you launch your acting career makes no sense to me.
