I understand that age is all about perspective but:

"Now, twenty-seven and staring at the dark descent into thirty"

I promise you it's not that dark a descent.

That being said I think you're vocalizing what a lot of folks have been observing in different contexts but all directionally congruent, over recent years, and that is that there's an increasing disconnect between the Education industry (and when you have colleges that are little more than hedge funds with schools attached for tax purposes it is definitely an industry) and the value delivered to society and to the individuals buying the product. Increasingly studies show that colleges are capturing all of the increased earnings projected for a graduate in the pricing. It's a frustrating reality.