US education is hardly "life-destroyingly expensive". It's more than the rest of the world, but it is definitely manageable to pay for it yourself with student loans. If you have financial aid (billions of dollars in aid is out there for good students in financial need). More cost-conscious folks can save thousands more by splitting an undergraduate degree between a low-cost 2-year college (community college, junior college) and then transfer in to a 4-year school to complete a degree.

College costs around the world:https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-college-costs-aroun...