I’m not so sure that education is so unaffordable if you do it right. Tuition at Rutgers (NJ state university) = about $13-14k/yr. You graduate with about $52-$56k of debt if you keep your nose to the grinder and live at home.

Starting salary for an enginerd of the appropriate persuasion is $60-$65k/yr, say $40k/yr or $3,300/mo after taxes. If you’re renting an apartment for a grand a month, spend $1,500/mo on expenses (cook for yourself, drive a clunker), you have $800/mo left over. Paid off in 5-6 years, by the time you’re 27. That is, if you didn’t have a part-time job in college, which would probably reduce the loan amount by 50%, payable in under three years.