I’m not sure what the big deal is . . . a Sonoma State nursing student has been trained for a high-demand profession; the Harvard history student will doubtlessly more often than not go for professional training in grad school.
Perhaps college admissions stress and craziness might be dialed back down a little bit if more students knew they can land a high paying job despite not attending Harvard or another elite private college? Yes, there are successful and highly paid graduates of little known public colleges too.
Re: #21
For some professions and their associated college majors (e.g. engineering, nursing, K-12 teaching), pay level is less college prestige dependent.
But not everyone wants to go into these professions, or can pass the admission or rigor gates for the needed education. So the perception is that, in a more general major (e.g. business, English, biology, history, etc.), college prestige matters (whether or not the perception is reality in the specific case).
Even engineering? I thought engineering programs were really important determiners of pay?