You actually get payed to get a phd. Not a lot, and in fact most phd programs likely don't pay you enough to live, but you shouldn't be paying the university. Any phd program that requires you to pay is a scam.
Don't know why, that reminded me of a guy I met in college who had like eight associates degrees. Older dude, had a career, kids were out of the house, he was going back to school mostly for fun, and in his words "once you've got the math and english classes done you can get a new degree every semester." Like most Associates in Arts are 90% the same curriculum.