Sure, but you are assuming an 18 YO has the skills of a 22 YO CS grad. Sometimes, but usually not.

It doesn't matter. If they are half as good and get half the pay, then by 22 they have 4 years of exp, and 2 years of salary, vs. no exp, and 4 years of debt.

I lucked out and happened to turn 23 the year the property boom started, my degree would have cost me over $500K in lost opportunities and cost. In my case I started out in tech support, and had to find my way into dev.

A lot of assumptions in there: comparing apples to apples (that the 18 YO has same skills as 22 YO w/ CS degree), that they went into debt for school, that they didn't work during school, that they didn't get experience from internships, etc.

It's definitely not "opportunity costs win every time."

Anecdotally, I went to a state school with decent computer engineering and CS programs, got all kinds of experience getting paid to write code for different groups throughout the university, met a few professors and like minded individuals in classes who wound up throwing more work my way throughout my entire career, and was 'only' $45k in debt.

My first job out of school paid me $60k/yr (2006) and I was over $100k in three. I learned a lot in my CpE and CS classes, but I gained a ton of experience at market rate I never would've gotten as an 18 year old know it all.

Not really related but even though I've spent most of my career using my CS teachings, the EE learning that was part of my CpE studies sure has come in handy with the IoT explosion. I knew next to nothing about electrical engineering when I entered university. Had I not gone I wouldn't have known how much I like electronics and robotics.

I've edited my comment a bit. This is a more complicated issue because it depends on your background. Someone who has been coding in HS might be able to get that crappy-pay entry level coding job without college, so there is an opportunity cost, but someone without that background might need to go to school to even have a shot.

I actually believe those four-five years being undergraduate is a really important part of growing. You make friends, learn about what researchers are doing, participate in labs, have those crazy pre-final night study in the library. It's fun. You can still do internship in the summer if you really really care alleviate your financial situation. If you chose to go to an expensive school without any scholarship or tuition assistance program (not loan), you are making a mistake.

They're not mutually exclusive. I've worked at least 40 hours a week as a developer ever since my freshman year of college.