background: 29 years old, already have a BS in english, have not used this degree whatsoever, no previous student loans, feel like i've done nothing but waste my life working **** jobs since i graduated, need to make a change soon.

so i've decided i should go back to school & get a degree in computer science. specifically i want to be a programmer. more specifically i want to work on video games. my dream job is to be doing anything at valve software.

getting the BS (at purdue) would land me ~60k in debt. this estimate is based on 3 years of full time school w/ no scholarships, grants, not working, etc - so the actual amount should be lower, but i don't know by how much. getting an AS at a community college would be much cheaper, but would that even be worth it? most of the job listings i've looked at on various game developers' sites require a "BS or equivalent." i obv want a job & the highest possible salary straight out of school, but the idea of all that debt is scary.

so SL, what should i do?

If you're paying sticker price, you're doing it wrong.

Since you already have a BS get a Masters in Comp Sci. I have a BS in biology and I have 5 more classes to go to get my masters in Comp Sci.

Take the lower division classes at community college. The math is nasty and being an English major you might have to take calculus and Linear Algebra a few times to pass it.

If you already have a BS can you get an AS, isn't that like going backwards?

Yeah, Masters would be the best way to go if he can get into one of those programs, which obviously isn't going to be easy.

Not true I got into three state schools with marginal grades and GRE scores.