Worth it in what way? For a family that has to go for two years without a winter vacation in order to afford Barnard-- that’s a decision they need to make. For a family where the breadwinners would need to work an extra few years before retiring-- that’s a decision they need to make. Take out a HELOC on the primary residence, borrow against a paid up whole life insurance policy-- these are all decisions that families have had to make in figuring out how to finance college.
For a family which can afford 30K a year and needs to borrow the rest- yes, that’s a decision to make. But a substantially riskier decision than going without a vacation for a few years…