But the question is - is a 160k debt before you've ever held a job in your life worth it, whereas you have statistically the same outcome with a sub-60k-all-in degree?
Very few people will incur debt anywhere near that for an undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley. 71% of undergraduates graduate with no debt. For those who borrow the average debt at graduation is around $18k.
That's borderline not believable. Somebody should probably take a closer look at where that data comes from. I went through the UC system, filling out the FAFSA every year, and had one parent who _partially_ supported me financially. I had that average amount of debt in two years. This was many years ago, and yes, I did work as well.
>For those who borrow the average debt at graduation is around $18k.
The debt specifically for tuition? What about housing? August to May is 10 months. It's easy to find studios that charge at least 1000/month. Assume rent is 900$. How does that housing cost calculation square with your average debt figure of 18k? If you're not including it, why not?
If the degree they grant you doesn't help you to get a job that can pay back the loan it cost to get the degree, how can it be said to be worth it? Certainly not in a financial sense.
Even a Berkeley degree is medieval basketweaving is worth a lot - you’re likely in the top 1% or higher of your field. This means you will likely end up as a tenure tracked professor.
You’re delusional to claim that state schools “aren’t worth it”. There are cream of the crop state schools.
A value (Top 1% in a field) times availability of jobs in field (just about 0) technically does equal a positive float, but the stark mathematic reality is that you might as well just take the 160k and blow it on lottery tickets for a roughly equal probability of making your money back.
And if it's just for "an degree", the reality is most HR departments in the US could give two shits about you having anything but an degree.