Val.
It's possible to pay for college with a summer job [barely].
$7.25 (Notes on why not your $6.53 below) x 40 hours x 21 weeks of summer = $6,090. In-state tuition in my county is $2,375. When I attended 2 years ago, I didn't bother buying textbooks, just a math access code for about $100.
Average rent in that town is $308/month for one bedroom. Get one close enough to everything that you can walk or bike instead of driving. Shack up with a roommate or significant other and share that rent for $150/month. That's $1,800/year for housing plus maybe some utilities, depending on the lease.
12 months housing plus 2 semesters of school and we're at $4,175. Which leaves $1,915 for food, utilities, misc expenses. That's tight, but who says impossible?
If the student doesn't have assets or is a non-traditional student so parent income doesn't count on financial aid, then grants are likely to pay for all of the tuition anyway. If not, the tuition is a deduction on taxable income, even for those who do not itemize. And furthermore, single adults with income under $10K don't have to file a tax return, except if they need to get their withholding back.
The other in-state university, 2 counties over, with $8,900 tuition/fees, is in an area with higher wages and more student housing, so higher income ($9 is expected there) without a higher cost of living can be expected. It's not quite enough to cover tuition. But there are other ways to fill the gap. Like, IDK, working two jobs in the summer? Scholarships? Grants? Study on your own and test out of classes with the CLEP exams? Working on the weekends? Work study? Wait 4 years to be a nontraditional student? Move to a lower cost in-state institution? All of the above?
The big picture is there are OPTIONS. I personally know of people who have solved the problem unconventionally. That means unconventional solutions *do exist*. There are solutions. I never claimed they are easy. But they exist for those who are willing.
