Outside of the potential social or philosophical benefits to going to college, a degree can be looked at like an investment. In the case of Houston, UH has good programs hooked into the petrochemical and banking sector in the city. The Bauer College of Business is well regarded and commodities traders start off at around $100k/year in salary and go far higher:

https://work.chron.com/commodity-trader-base-salary-28291.ht...

The internship program at the university help facilitate a pathway into these kinds of jobs:

https://careercenter.bauer.uh.edu/internships/

Alternatively, the chemical and petrochemical engineering departments are also well regarded. The local paper is only listing the average staring salary salary nationwide, but I recall new local engineering hires making somewhere between $75-$100k:

https://work.chron.com/average-chemical-engineering-starting...

Most seasoned engineers that I know of in the field make in excess of $200k/year and they retire as low millionaires.

The point is that $120k in lost wages pales in comparison to the financial security a degree can provide assuming that one has the appetite and ability for that kind of work. UH and HCC get a lot of grief, but it's a reasonable school that produces good people.

I think in software we have been spoiled. For the most part, degrees are really optional. This is mostly luck as it's possible to do software dev at home (try doing petroleum engineering at home).

Most professions require a degree either by legal mandate, or by essence.

You can easily work part time even with a full course load, and ramp up to full time or more during summers. It’s what I did.