Opportunity cost is IMO a poor way of looking at this. Four years of my life to make myself a more well-rounded, learned person with greater perspective on life

Opportunity cost is IMO a poor way of looking at this. Four years of my life to make myself a more well-rounded, learned person with greater perspective on life? Seems like time well spent. I wouldn't go into crushing debt for it, but if the only outlay was time, sign me the hell up. > "If going to school isn't going to help you earn more, then why focus on it full time?" Because life isn't just about money. > "You could do continuing studies throughout your life to broaden your horizons" Because juggling full-time work with part-time studies is very, very difficult, and inevitably involves compromises in both. Because some subjects require tremendous time commitment to master. > "and focus your youthful studies on apprenticeship, internship, networking or a major that will actually help you earn more." But why? I already earn plenty. If I can take a break from work and pursue a something that I feel makes me a better person, without going into debt for it... why wouldn't I? I'm not particularly old, but if there's one thing I've learned by observing older folk, is that using earning power as your core optimization metric is a really fast path to a wasted, unhappy life.