<p>I was not a CS major but in the 1980’s I was able to pay off my student loans early. My starting salary was about double a year’s tuition. Today, the norm appears to be about one and a half times a years’s tuition. This is the perverse result of too much student aid which, as in the game of Monopoly just bids up the price. Same as the housing bubble.</p>
<p>I would be very reluctant to go into debt for the amounts you are talking about for any degree from any university. CS is particularly vulnerable because it is so easy to outsource the work overseas or get more H1-B engineers to do the work here.</p>
<p>Are you considering the potential income from a co-op job? That was an immense help financially as well as career-wise. Have you considered ROTC? How about two years at an inexpensive local college and then transferring? Because of the larger starting salaries for the video game majors, that major does better on the startin salary/annual tuition ratio test.</p>