>Where are they now 5 years later? Their loans are mostly paid off and they're in better jobs.

This is missing the magical step 2 just before "Profit!". How did your "English major" friends manage to pay off their their student loans from shitty jobs in 5 years? Even state school tuitions are now starting to reach several tens of thousands of dollars per year. For private universities, the annual tuition is often significantly higher than the median annual salary of their graduates.