Personally IMO, the only degrees worth anything are professional in nature: engineering, medicine, hard science, etc. A degree in "studies" (e.g. Negro studies, Homo studies, Female studies, Climate studies) isn't worth as much as a bucket of warm spit.
My out-go exceeds my in-come only because I dump everything into investments. What I earn %-wise from them exceeds what I pay on CC and margin debt so.... If I have to bite the bullet I have an investment account that will be sacrificed. I make sure that my debt remains below its asset level. Yeah, the taxes will be brutal tho.
I’m a peak boomer and a college drop out (after 3 years). I dropped out because I saw opportunities to work hard and earn considerably more than my pears were making when they graduated.
Not having a degree made it much harder looking for work over the years but has also presented opportunities as well. I’ve changed professions 3 times as I saw the world changing around me.
All that said: paid off my college debt before 30, married had 2 kids, owned homes, sent my kids through college, etc...
I make at least 4 times what she does, have savings and equity far above the average and live in a resident unfriendly state (NY).
It isn’t too hard to survive and with skills, and hard work you can thrive. You just need to make some hard decisions along the way. For example I’ve had many opportunities to get an undergrad degree along the way, but didn’t think the benefits would outweigh the financial burden. Time will tell if I’m correct or not, but with 3 - 4 years to retirement the last thing I would do is go further in debt.
Traditionally a college liberal arts education was for the wealthier or most intelligent young men. These men were then expected to form the leadership and intellectual class for their generation.
For the last two generations we have told kids that college is required prep for many/most jobs. No longer is college the top crust of society, but your average kid is expected to get a college education. The need to prepare for and attend college is drilled into every kid from grade school through high school.
We only need just so many leaders and intellectuals. A lot of kids are given crap degrees they are unable to use- and that includes any degree with the word “studies” in the title. Most of these people can’t even make good use of a solid classical degree like English, or Philosophy, or Economics. They simply lack the intellectual strengths or the societal connections to really use that knowledge. Frankly, many of those mid-wits are ill-equipped for a more hardcore science class as well.