It boggles my mind that a rich and highly civilized country as the USA does not have free education and healthcare. I'm sure it's a great country but come on, you guys are really nuts sometimes.
So, the least expensive part of the process is the only one that you have to pay an exorbitantly ridiculous amount. I stand by my calling you nuts.
You can get vast amounts of education for free nowadays, but if you didn't do it through the approved structure and pay the right people for it, to many people (particularly those hiring), you don't count as knowing any of it. You need the piece of paper, even though it's the actual education that costs so much to create.
People willing to work through systems of that sort make for less disruptive employees.