I was lucky enough to be gigging before I went to school, and NEC had some flexible payment terms, plus I lived in the area, so I didn't need room and board.
I was paying a little less than $5000 a month, which is a good chunk of what I make gigging. (probably most of it back then) Also, that's about what you'd need to pay to rent a small studio apartment in Boston, so I ended up living in basically a closet in someone's house for my time there. Looking back it was worth it as I didn't have any debt when I graduated, and some of the tuition was tax deduxtible, so I'd get decent tax refunds, but there were times where I wanted to just take a loan and live large like all of the other students... Also, all the Berklee kids I knew told me that Berklee was considerably more than NEC...
Berklee estimates the cost for one year in a degree program as $38,000 for just the tuition, but at the end of the day most students are paying $65,000 for on-campus, and $61,000 for off-campus.
https://www.berklee.edu/paying-for-your-education/cost-attendance
NEC estimates one year in a degree program as $42,000, plus another $13,000 if you want to live there. (which is pretty cheap for Boston. If you live in a four person apartment, you're looking at about $2000/month each, plus utilities).
http://necmusic.edu/tuition-fees
I will say that school provided me with tremendous opportunities, and gave me the tools to stregnthen my craft. Nevermind the built-in networking that comes with school. Most people that I knew have gone on to pursue great careers playing music all over the world... in the end, if you want to pursue a career in music, it's worth the struggle!