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?