Well, there are ways to get more money for college. For one, if your teen Sim gets at least 8 points in a skill, the teen will get a scholarship. The more skills the teen get 8 points for, the more scholarship money the teen will get. There are small jobs your YA can do - work as a cafeteria worker, DJ, bartender, barista, tutoring or even as a personal trainer like in the gym.
There are other scholarships your teen can get for being abducted by the aliens, for being an orphan (no parents), for being a vampire or a zombie (Undead). Also, if you're interested, you can download the mod from DJS's
new site to get more scholarship money for the badges your teen earns. This is if you have Seasons in addition to University.
These are a few things I can think off the top of my head right now. Also, I have a few mods in Squinge's section that increases the amount of money the Sim makes as a DJ, bartender or cafeteria worker. Check them out there if you want your Sims to work but not off the dorm lot.