For all the knocks on college degrees, I'll throw some support to them. My college degree + grad degree went a long way toward getting me a state government job which provides really great benefits for me and my family. The two year master's was $35k, and I got half of it paid for with a fellowship. Because I have a master's, that put me in a higher pay grade when I got hired, and likely helped me get hired in the first place. School can be super expensive or moderately affordable, depending on where you decide to go, and there are opportunities for scholarships, fellowships, etc., to help pay for it. You can learn a ton if you commit to it, and the resources are endless. I would say it's totally worth it if you know what you want to get out of it and if you're driven to get the most out of the resources available to you. If you don't have direction and go to college that way, you'll probably end up feeling it was not worth it.