I agree with most of your post. I disagree with your statement that any university that is a "girly man" school should be avoided. That's inaccurate, since you choose your major, you choose your electives and if you don't want to take a class in Women's Studies, by all means don't.

Further, there are urban colleges such as Metro, CU Denver, CU Colorado Springs as well as any number of on-line options available as well. It would seem that there are ways to get a college degree while working and avoiding massive debt. 

Finally, the trades are a perfectly viable option, but they carry a cost in time that is not much different than college as well as physical costs as well. What is easy at 25 is not so easy at 50.