[salman89]

Went to UCLA - when I took out a loan for a year the estimated cost was ~$27k a year (In-state). Friends of mine who were international students were already paying $50k+ at UCLA.

Could easily imagine $50k/year for private schools.

[randomdata]

And not to forget the $30K/year (average income of a high school grad) that you are missing out on by spending time in school instead of working. Not knocking the education, but it is something that needs to be considered.

For those who are about to say that there are no jobs without a degree, recent data suggests that people fresh out of high school have more job opportunities than fresh college graduates and the vast majority of the population, at all ages, are employed without a degree.

[tzs]

Top private schools are often effectively cheaper than UCLA for most people. For instance, Stanford waives tuition for students from households in the US with income in the bottom 80% (under $100k). For students from households in the bottom 50% or so, they also waive room and board.

[tptacek]

Which is ironic? is maybe the word? given how difficult it is for people from families in the bottom 50% on income earners to get into Stanford; that's something like 15% of the each incoming class. Admissions at Stanford is need-blind, but many important college admissions criteria are proxies for need.