You should meet some CEO's of those major companies. Most band directors do NOT have skills that rival those folks. We think we do. But we don't.

And while home prices were lower weren't interest rates something stupid like 14% or so?

Who would want to live in Austin regardless of housing prices?

Nobody forced you into student debt. You entered that willingly. There are a lot of ways to reduce the cost of college that don't require massive student debt. Yes, it is more expensive but with much of what is offered at most high schools, (AP and DC) plus a little summer school it would be very easy for an education major to come out of high school with 30 plus hours of transferable credit reducing the time at the 4 year down significantly. Certain degrees don't have that option as colleges are specific in what they accept, (engineering, pre-med, honor's business, etc), but education is pretty easy to get those basics out of the way free or cheap.