In the past I would recommend people not get aviation degrees for the reasons you mention. The opportunity to get an R-ATP and get to an airline a little bit faster does mitigate that to some degree, and in your case it absolutely makes sense because that's the only way to get both a degree and flight training using the GIB. Don't lose any sleep.

If needed you could update your network skills and get a job doing that...simply having a degree of any sort would likely get you a little more pay, or it might not matter either way. If needed you could get a masters (MBA, CS, etc), as opposed to another BS.

Due to mandatory retirements, it's unlikely you would be furloughed and unable to quickly get another pilot job.