Another thing to add to your $10k education list, look at all the art classes in community colleges around the big expensive private art schools.
I got my BFA from a pricy private art school in LA. We were paying about $1250 a credit. The same teachers were also teaching at Santa Monica college for about $21 a credit. I was furious when I found out. I wish I would have known about that. So I suggest going to that prestigious school you want to go. Look up the classes and teachers, they might be teaching somewhere else for cheaper.
Likewise, if you're just interested in learning the material, check out alternatives at the big expensive art schools themselves. For example, RISD offers 2-year certificate programs for about $10k. They're composed of community education classes, but they're taught by RISD instructors in RISD classrooms, and as far as I can tell are equivalent to the corresponding courses taught during the day. The catch, of course, is that you don't have access to the full range of courses, and that you don't get to say "BFA" or "MFA" on your resume at the end -- although you can still say "RISD". :)
I got my BFA from a pricy private art school in LA. We were paying about $1250 a credit. The same teachers were also teaching at Santa Monica college for about $21 a credit. I was furious when I found out. I wish I would have known about that. So I suggest going to that prestigious school you want to go. Look up the classes and teachers, they might be teaching somewhere else for cheaper.