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If not college, there's also trade schools. Less debt, some (like long haul trucking) will send you for free and you must work it off locked into a contract. And depending on the trade, you could have papers in as short as a few months to 2 or so years. Trades can be lucrative, but can also be physically demanding and draining. The older you get, the more things ail you. Not good if your livelihood is physically demanding. You can run a search on the forums here about Mike Rowe (think Dirty Jobs TV show) and you can look for his ted talks or interviews on the higher cost of college.

As KVR has previously posted, if the expense of college is the major concern, look into college in Germany where it can be free or close to free. You'd still have living expenses, and figuring out VISAs, passports, etc. Never mind that you should expect they'll speak German heh.

You said you're a prepper and want to homestead. Prepping is simply put, a money pit. Collecting all your paraphernalia will cost a fortune. That means you'll need the income to back it up. Same can go for homesteading. If you're wanting to own land, do farming on any scale large or small, or wanting to go off-grid, ALL require seed money. The way you get that money in today's world makes having some kind of formal higher education and/or trade nearly a necessity. Take it from us old farts. We've been there, done that, and are giving you the benefit of what we've learned through experience... sometimes the hard way.

Last, you said its hard to save money because you are an archivist. WHAT do you archive? (And why is it such an expense?)