Not too long ago there were many articles how student loans were so essential because the average college graduate would earn more over a lifetime and contribute more to society, pay a larger share of the progressive tax burden, etc etc.
Funny how things change, no?
You can work your way up to management positions in ANY restaurant chain, you can work your way up to management in ANY retail company, in BOTH of these instances it will take far less than 4 years IF YOU WORK HARD!! Most of the management positions today START at $50,000.00 yr. you just have to WANT IT, companies are STARVED for hard working caring staff, if you have these TWO attributes they will bend over backwards to advance you as quickly as possible, college degrees mean nothing to the service industry, I worked the service industry my entire life and worked my way up to franchise ownership with NO MONEY just a commitment to train managers and new franchisees YES the service industries are grueling hours HOWEVER that is now changing, you have to LOVE taking care of customers, LOVE working very hard and these industries WILL take care of you AND advance you!!