"but everything seems to suggest that it’s ultimately a bargain"
Ummm. I was going to say "how's that", but then you explained it in the rest of your post. You are being lied to. They are feeding you BS. It's horse hockey. What else can I say....
I graduated from riddle before you were born, 1983. They were pushing the same BS then, and I fell for it. Worked out okay for me, in the end, but one of my greatest regrets is not getting a degree outside of aviation in an area that I was interested in.
By the way, don't feel special because they accepted you. They accept anyone who has the means to pay, one way or another.
You don't need to go to riddle to be successful. Any major is fine, as is any flight school. Going to ridde never did anything for me other than to fill the "I have a degree" box on the application. There are a lot of better ways to do that than going to riddle.