May 5, 2026
Mark Cuban has never been shy about telling people what he thinks and when it comes to student debt, his view is blunt.
In a recent episode of the Impaulsive podcast, the billionaire investor and former Shark Tank star called taking out loans to pay for college "the dumbest thing you can do" and laid out a two-step alternative he says makes far more financial sense (1).
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His prescription: Start at a community college, then transfer.
"Go to community college. Accounting class is accounting class, whether it's at a community college or at Harvard," Cuban said. "Psychology is psychology for the most part … So get those first couple years of your introductory classes (and) transfer where you can afford to go (2)."
The case against student loans
The math behind the argument is difficult to dispute. The College Board's 2025 Trends in College Pricing report notes that average published tuition and fees at public two-year community colleges are $4,150 per year for in-district students, compared to $11,950 per year for in-state students at public four-year institutions and $45,000 at private non-profit four-year schools (3) (the latter includes Harvard University, Stanford University, MIT, Yale and Cornell).
That means completing the first two years at a community college before transferring to a public university could save a student tens of thousands of dollars before a single loan is required.
The urgency of Cuban's warning is backed by data, too.
The Federal Reserve found the median outstanding student loan balance sits between $20,000 and $24,999, though borrowers with higher levels of education were significantly more likely to carry larger balances. The average federal student loan balance per borrower exceeded $39,000 last year (4).
And unlike most other forms of debt, student loans are notoriously difficult to escape: Borrowers generally can't discharge them (5) in bankruptcy, which Cuban specifically called out as a key reason college prices spiraled in the first place.
"If everybody could borrow any amount of money and you couldn't even declare bankruptcy to get rid of it, college prices went up," he said (6).
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The decline of colleges
Cuban also flagged a trend in higher education that the data backs. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the total number of degree-granting post-secondary institutions in the U.S. dropped approximately two percent between 2022-23 and 2023-24, falling from 5,918 to 5,819 (7).
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Cuban said he believes that trend will accelerate: "You're starting to see a couple colleges close to bankruptcy. I think you're going to see more (8)."
A cost difference not worth the debt
His broader argument is that the academic content at affordable schools is largely the same as at elite institutions — particularly for foundational coursework — and that the cost difference between the most expensive school and a solid public university simply isn't worth the debt burden for most students.
"The delta between the most basic four-year school and the best public universities is really small," he pointed out (9).
What he valued most from his own time at Indiana University was learning how to learn. Cuban argued that skill translates far beyond the classroom and can be acquired without a six-figure price tag.
Read More: Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it
Cuban's practical, lucrative formula
If you or someone you know is weighing college options, the first question should be which school you can actually afford to finish.
Federal Reserve data also found that among borrowers who carried student loan debt, only 44 per cent said the financial benefits of their education exceeded the costs, compared to 68 per cent among those who graduated debt-free (10). That gap tells its own story.
While Cuban's formula — start cheap, transfer smart, avoid the debt trap — may not be glamorous, the numbers suggest it's a lot more lucrative than the alternative.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
YouTube (1),(2),(6),(8),(9); College Board (3); Federal Student Aid (4),(5); National Center for Education Statistics (7); U.S. Federal Reserve (10)
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With a writing and editing career spanning over 15 years, Emma creates and refines content across a broad spectrum of industries, including personal finance, lifestyle, travel, health & wellness, real estate, beauty & fitness and B2B/SaaS/tech.
