I think my son will benefit greatly as well, but he will have some debt from his first year. He could have stayed here in FL and done the program as a distance program and let his employer pay for it...but he wanted to be there. I’m proud of how he has sacrificed to do this and we enjoyed our recent visit out there!
One of my daughter’s classmates had a situation similar to your son .. I think he was able to work X hours or days a month and get some pay from his employer back in Chicago.
In most cases, given the intensity of the programs at Stanford, it’s best to be on campus, and if you gotta be on a campus, Stanford’s as good as any to be on! In fact, one day my daughter said she was biking to a class during her final quarter, stopped at a crossroads, when it hit her .. this is one beautiful campus! So intense had been the work, she hadn’t had time to stop and smell the roses, as it were. I hope your son takes that time.