Salary is almost always in step with experience. In most cases no practical work experience=minimum wage. True, there are Union jobs that pay $14/hr for starters, but you won't be getting 40 hrs a week, maybe a shift or two per week.
If you look at almost every job in the world, you will come to the conclusion that it is sales that make the money--production never makes big bucks, and , alas, cooking is production.
This is why it SO important to work in the industry first before you blow 30 or 40 grand for a diploma and find out that it will take you 10 years to pay it back.
You need to talk to employers and Chefs. Most of them will tell you flat out that they are not fazed/impressed by the school you went to; what impresses them ---or doesn't, is watching you work for the first 2 or 3 hours.
It's their labour cost, their call, "Is the guy worth the money I'm paying?".
That being said, paper credentials impresses the heck out of HR people and employers with very little experience in the industry.
The big boys--the national/international hotel chains, the smart boys, and the employers who pay the big bucks will ALWAYS look at what you did last job: What you did, your food and labour costs, your personal limitations, your employer's limitations, and, just as importantly, what you DIDN'T do at your last job.
Is it hard? Pysically, I think a production baker is hard, a caterer is hard, but a line cook is so-so. What cooking will demand from you is stamina. Those who succeed in this biz have incredible stamina.
You need to work to guage for yourself if you have the stamina, if you want to develop it, if you think your financial and personal relationships will allow you to work for a few years at lousy pay.