I went to college....after my first year, my parents informed me that they could no longer afford to pay my tuition.
I joined the national gaurd. Summer after freshman year I was in boot camp. Summer after sophmore year was in AIT. Combat Engineer 12B.
Junior year, 9/11.,,,,went to part time status on school and gaurded some airports with an unloaded M16 - don't ask.
Summer 2002, graduated college with a BS in Psychology. March 2005 ETS'd from the Army. Today - I'm a Senior Project Manager for an Electrical Contractor doing site development and commercial work. Less than 5 yrs out of college and last year I brough in 74k before taxes.
Oops, forgot to add, Summer 2002 went to Sapper School - the engineer's equivalent to ranger school......learned just how much of a man I am not....I completed but did NOT graduate. I would never try again.....it was the worst time of my life. But it's everyday life for guys in Iraq/Afganistan.....I thought I was a tough, mean, green killing machine.....now i know my limits.
Anyways back to the point.....you can join the Gaurd or Reserves to pay for college. You'll get a SWEET enlistment bonus, which you should invest. You'll probably get deployed somewhere doing something. In six years, you'll have 6 years experience, a college degree and some money left over. Then you can do whatever you want to do, or you could realize that PMC's are bullet magnets and that you value your life more than that. YMMV