Where is this "21k lost wages" figure coming from? I guarantee you, if I were only forgoing a wage of 21k/year, I'd finish school in a heartbeat! The problem

Where is this "21k lost wages" figure coming from? I guarantee you, if I were only forgoing a wage of 21k/year, I'd finish school in a heartbeat! The problem for a lot of people on this forum might be that they can no longer justify college economically: it won't improve your earnings if you're already making a good living, so it becomes more of a wouldn't-it-be-nice sort of thing, an expensive recreational activity to maybe finish someday after retirement.