The relevant links that have been posted in this thread suggests the lack of income post and other negative career prospects primarily relates to field of work, rather than attending the best schools and being the highest caliber of students. For example, the book review quote a few posts back states:
“College selectivity did not significantly affect the graduates’ chances of employment”
The McKinsey report on the previous page compares survey results for top 100 USNWR 4-year colleges and lower ranked colleges. They found that among survey respondents who attended top colleges, 41% said they were unable to find work in their desired field of employment compared to 48% who attended lower ranked 4-year colleges. 32% of graduates from top colleges reported working at a job that did not require a 4-year degree compared to 43% of graduates from lower ranked colleges. Respondents who attended top colleges were actually more likely to say they regretted their major choice than students attending lower ranked colleges. Yes, those are statistically significant differences in employment, but they do not imply working or career difficulties are primarily an issue related to attending the best colleges or being the highest caliber of student.
The employer survey reported college reputation (best schools) and college GPA (best students) as being the least influential factors in evaluating resumes of new grads for hiring.
The CollegeScorecard numbers suggest a similar trend. HYPS rank somewhere between 2500th and 3000th best in terms of lowest unemployment, which is only slightly better than average. Plenty of directional state type colleges have lower unemployment rates Nearly all HYPS grads are excellent students with great resources, yet the bottom 10% of currently working persons were still earning well below typical high school grads 10 years out, and the bottom 25% were earning less than typical US college grads 10 years out. Much of the lower earnings is by choice, but again it does not imply that the career and income issues discussed in this thread are limited to lower ranked colleges.
Looking at career center data for HYPS… type colleges provides an explanation. For example, Cornell reports that students who chose to work at a non-profit had a median salary of $33k. Education was not much better at $38k. In contrast grads in technology were over $70k. Grads in lower paying fields probably could have earned a higher salary had they not attended a 4-year college and focused on a vocational career instead. However, that doesn’t mean the college failed them or attending college was a bad decision. I think working in non-profits and education is admirable, and such students are likely happy with their career choices. If the college helped them achieve their goals and they are happy with their choices, I’d consider it a success, even if salary is not high. The same idea applies to many students who attended lower ranked colleges as well.