> They also sell a rich learning and networking environment ...
That is worth anything only if it will help achieve future profesional goals. You are probably thinging of a rich start-up culture. It can be awesome for engineering and business majors. But for humanities, I am not so sure.
> motivation in the form of deadlines and so forth, which is often difficult for most people;
There is some value in that. Universities used to play the 'in loco parentis' role in the past (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_loco_parentis). In other words they provide an environment where discipline and certain norms are enforced. I am just not so sure it is worth $120k worth of debt at the end.
That is worth anything only if it will help achieve future profesional goals. You are probably thinging of a rich start-up culture. It can be awesome for engineering and business majors. But for humanities, I am not so sure.
> motivation in the form of deadlines and so forth, which is often difficult for most people;
There is some value in that. Universities used to play the 'in loco parentis' role in the past (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_loco_parentis). In other words they provide an environment where discipline and certain norms are enforced. I am just not so sure it is worth $120k worth of debt at the end.