<p>One final final comment. Most of what is in this stream is opinion that reflects contextual perception. Every parent and prospective student should look at the facts circa some key questions. What is the distribution of the jobs of graduates 5, 10, 15 or even 20 years out, how “interesting” are those jobs and what are the incomes associated with those jobs? If that data is not readily available, there is data that is more easily available such as: 1) What percentage of graduates go on to graduate school? 2) What are the groups of schools they are most likely to attend? and 3) What are the starting salaries of graduates of those schools and what are they likely to be 5 years out? The factual answers to these questions might radically impact your views. </p>
<p>That said, as passsky81 points out above, while the expected benefits of a better education are clearly better, all outcomes are individual and affected by factors associated with that specific individual.</p>