If your degree is in a field that our capitalist system values, then yes, a higher education is worth it.
If you go into debt with student loans trying to obtain a degree in a field of study that is not highly-valued by our markets, then no, a degree is a poor investment.
That's really the way to look at a higher education...as an investment. You may get caught up in the "academia" aspect -- "I'm in my field of study for the pure enjoyment of learning." But for those of us who don't come from wealth, or who aren't trust-fund babies, an education is usually the best way to get well into the economic middle class.
And what's all this talk about trade schools? I suppose there are certain trades in which someone could make a very decent living--plumbing, auto mechanics, etc. I would think that someone in any of those fields would make far above 25K a year.
The sick thing is that those kids who do come from money and end up getting degrees in stupid majors end up getting the same or better high paying jobs that the rest of us have to work for by getting relevant degrees.
I see it all the time. I have an accounting degree from a modest state college and I am a lowly employee who is under a Controller that is neither a CPA nor has an accounting degree. Alas, he went to Penn State and comes from a comfortable upper middle class background.
Apprentice yourself in a trade, straight out of high school. The trades often require a high school diploma. Of course, you have to have some basic skills, and some of those aren't taught in college but are taught in trade school. Or hire a tutor. Plumbing and electrical are very near professional, welding is a very strong trade, beyond professional in some ways. A person could write his own ticket in any of these trades and go to college later after he has become a $brazillionaire if he wants to study philosophy in college for some arcane reason. The golden age of construction is just beginning.