I am the first in my family to graduate from college. I grew up incredibly poor. It was presented as THE way out of poverty growing up. I work in a field completely unrelated to my degree. My university degree didn't help my earning potential. I ended up making plenty of money in tech, so my degree debt didn't matter much.

I have a lot of kids. Only one of them has any plans on going to college. I try to dissuade my kids from going to college. There are a few degrees where going to school is the best path. But for most areas of higher education there are superior ways to learn the material, if the education is the goal. I majored in English Literature. Completely worthless degree. I should have just joined a few book clubs or hired a writing coach. Something like https://writeofpassage.school/. That would have been far less expensive and probably better.

Higher education in the United States needs an overhaul. $34,000 in California is ridiculous. I hope they get their money on the path to us changing the foundation of higher education.