That doesn't include food, living costs, general life expenses. That makes it closer to $100,000. I stand by what I said $5000 and stating it can be spent on tuition or living costs is not really going to make a dent in the decision to go to college or trade school.
What facts have you provided that I have ignored? You stated that a community college degree costs between $10,000 to $30,000 over the course of length from starting to qualifying. Therefore it covers approx 1/2 to 1/6 of that. However living costs (which you have failed to mention), which I would say depending (on research done when I considered a post grad in the US) on where you are will approx be $1500 to 3000. Now I read it can take 2 to 4 years depending on if you want an associates degree or a bachelors. Therefore living costs for 2 years can be from $36,000 to $72,000, and for 4 years $72,000 to $144,000. I do not understand why you are choosing to ignore the numbers. It seems a completely bias interpretation of the facts.