Whether or not that higher learning institutions are in it for profit, the fact remains that society now demands a higher education. While some people (in this video) don't believe that, go onto any corporate website and look at job requirements...you will find that nearly all jobs that make over $30,000 require at least an associates degree or higher.
When you go to Stanford or Oxford to earn your teaching degree you are almost guaranteeing that you will be in debt for life. It is not the fact that going to college is a debt making ordeal, you HAVE to look at what you want to study, where the most cost effective school for it is, and how much you can realistically expect to make in that job field. If you spend $100,000 on a teaching degree or learning how to be a pilot, we all know that those are low income jobs (starting pilots), you are basically taking a gamble that you will never be able to pay that off.
I had a similar situation a year ago, I just graduated from a community college with associates in business admin. I wanted to go to Embry-Riddle at Daytona Beach to be an ATC, the cost for 2 years of that was around $110,000 which is a lot of money. However if you look at the pay grades for ATC you can see how that is more of an investment than a gamble. Well of course I found out that I can not pass the eye color vision exam from the FAA I had to give up on that dream, seeing as paying $100,000 for any other degree was more of a gamble than an investment.
I found out that Embry-Riddle had a world wide campus here in Houston and that is only cost 1/4 the price of the main Campus in Daytona Beach. The same degree program that would cost $100,000 only costs $25,000 at the world wide campus...the SAME degree program. So now I have one more year left at Riddle with a BS in Professional Aeronautics with a Minor in Airport Management and Operations. But that is not all, I knew Houston is one of the best cities in the country for jobs...just a month ago I got hired into a company called Universal Weather and Aviation as a full time employee in the Airport Data Management department. Now a month later I am already being trained for another position for Permits and Regulations.
The moral of MY story is that you CANNOT just go off to college, you have to be smart in what you want to study, realistic outlooks in the career field of your study, most cost effective school for your career and study, and strategically geographically positioning yourself for the best opportunity for success.
I am NOT lucky that I have a career in the field I want, while still in school at the age of 21, I worked DAMN hard to get where I am...going to school full time YEAR ROUND with a job as a cashier...no winter or summer breaks...personally dropping off my resumes to over 15 aviation companies in Houston and going to all the interviews...I worked hard to get where I am at and this is what my hard work as shown for it. College DOES NOT guarantee any job, all it does is make sure the company takes a look at your resume...your work ethics and experience will get you the job...not college. But as I stated, College is now a requirement for any high paying position...it will not get you the job but it will get you in the door...the rest is on YOU.
