This is really surprising to me. Compared to other high paying paths (medicine, law, MBA, finance), STEM degrees offer a much shorter completion time, lower debt, and higher starting salary. This holds even for engineering jobs, completely outside tech companies.

I do concede that the software industry can improve on attrition rates and career stability.

But on a simple time value of money front, I'm yet to come across a field of study in the American education system that pays more with lower debt than a STEM degree does.