I don't think this is good advice. Online degrees don't give you the same benefits a "real" degree does. Degrees don't just establish a level of mastery within

I don't think this is good advice. Online degrees don't give you the same benefits a "real" degree does. Degrees don't just establish a level of mastery within a field, they also provide social status and connections. Even if an online degree is qualitatively equivalent to a real degree, it's worth only a fraction because you don't get these secondary benefits. As a software engineer your earning power will be extremely high, especially if you make wise career choices. 60k debt you can pay off in a single year when you have a decent job. The opportunity cost of not being in industry for a number of years is way higher than anything else, so if you want to focus on the monetary aspect it's the opportunity cost you should be concerned about, not the cost of tuition.