I think a lot of points in the article made sense. Salary might not be as good a measure of college value as how each individual student feels about the school

I think a lot of points in the article made sense. Salary might not be as good a measure of college value as how each individual student feels about the school they attended and their performance in the real world many years later. Related, there was one example of a student who felt that attending community college gave him a chance to feel more confident than he might have otherwise. (He does not say this directly, but being around students who were like him and with similar abilities made him more confident, as well.) Also, the majors offered at MIT are different than those at typical schools, which could alone account for your average salary statistic. Next, I would not be surprised if students from top universities are more likely to work in big cities than those who are from schools in the middle of the country, accounting for cost of living differences and local job opportunities. Finally, if salary is a factor, then the cost of college should be, as well. I think success at MIT would be that a student found the coursework challenging, opportunities plentiful, and made lots of smart friends, and not a potential salary or prestige. And I think those same factors are also important for most students who succeed from other schools; in other words, doing things that make them happy.