I would not go into debt like that (or burden my children) with debt for ANY school/ any degree/ any major. And I am saying that having sent both D’s to NYU.
Older D applied to NYU and received an $11K a year merit scholarship (no need.) At the time we knew that younger D would also need to attend school and husband was making less money than today (but our combined income–NYC area-- still made our FAFSA too high for need based aid.)
So older D only applied to private schools that offered merit aid and a SUNY. No ivies. No schools that met full need.
Our finances were better when younger D was applying and since she wanted NYU, too,and it was the best fit/ program for her, we let her go as well (no merit.)
We have no regrets spending the money we did, because both girls got excellent educations that couldn’t be matched elsewhere (given their criteria.)
And I am thankful we were in a position to grant them this. But if we couldn’t, they would have made more compromises. But I would never have let them take out more debt than subsidized loans, and even that would have been as a last resort. If we couldn’t afford more, both girls would have stayed at home and attended a CUNY.