My nephew graduated from film school (film editing) last year.No,he's not a pervert...he's a film fan who's also a technogeek.My sister paid a lot more than $100K.Before he entered I begged her to send him to the state university (where he had a full four year scholarship) but little "Jimmy" wanted the $120K school.Today,he's traveling 120 miles a day,3 days a week to make about $5/hr (I guess he's an "independent contractor" or something).He's a great kid but has the maturity of a 10 year old and my sister can never say "no" to him (she was widowed about 8 years ago).
So....at that rate, he'd only need to work 20 years to break even. :-)
The politically correct thing to say is: "Well, he's getting a foot in the door. We all started out at the bottom. Etc." But, since we're all FReepers here, I can say that it sounds like a lot of money is getting flushed.
If the kid is techie, then he'll find another niche as soon as he gets hungry enough. There aren't many smart, technically-oriented people waiting in line at soup kitchens.
But, the short term will be tough to watch.