This article lacks any nuance. College will always be worth it if you have some combination of ambition, capability and intelligence necessary to couple to an

This article lacks any nuance. College will always be worth it if you have some combination of ambition, capability and intelligence necessary to couple to an industry (or industries) of interest. College was never worth it if you lacked that. The big change that seems to happening is that a general purpose college education is less and less valuable in the market. This is a result of consolidation and specialization. Years ago, a general purpose degree could land you on the management track at the headquarters of the regional department store; now you need a specialized degree to even interest the recruiter at GlobX in Seattle/SFC/NYC. The exception of course is: experience. "In God we trust; all others bring data" => "In reputable college degrees we trust; all others bring demonstrable experience". Demonstrable experience for a developer is easy: github.com. It's also easy for lots of other specialties. A degree provides a claim of capability that varies with the degree provider. Putting [particle simulation code] on github.com (or whichever specialized site) provides a demonstration of capability without regard to degree. Some employers will require a specialized capability that only a degree can provide (think GAAP accounting, which is insane/brilliant); some will search for the capability itself. It's a shifting continuum and a discussion between you and your kids; to say it's yes/no is to put on blinders in order to ignore a changing world.