What you are excluding is the risk factors for if you fail to find entry into your specific profession, and the chances of finding a job in a given major. Sayin

What you are excluding is the risk factors for if you fail to find entry into your specific profession, and the chances of finding a job in a given major. Saying college is the best investment is so generic a statement when degree selection and the barriers to entry into the job market are also variables to success. The question isn't if, as a generic or on the whole, college is the best investment you can make. It's more like, is the major I've chosen going to be profitable after I graduate? What is the degree to market conditions like? Will my job be robust enough to stand against automation? The way I see it the number of available degrees vs graduates entering into the market has a high enough risk that failure to enter the job market becomes enough of a risk as to not be rewarding. Your statement is what is wrong with the industry, because it doesn't preclude the other option, what if you fail? Even if you passed all your classes and graduated top of you class, what happens if you can't find a job? Your statement assumes everyone is a winner if they invest in college, but that is not the case.