A master in Holland is costing 2500 Euro on university fees, and you get a stat subsidy of roughly 4000 Euro...
A pilot training is roughly 100.000 Euro... And it is not 4-5 years. He only need 1 year and 3 months to complete his master.
And he decided only recently that he wants to become a pilot. Not sure why it is "absurd" to spent more money on a backup plan.