It's a pretty useful abstraction. Would you rather measure dopamine levels? (Because there are some good hacks for that one too). Seriously though, given that

It's a pretty useful abstraction. Would you rather measure dopamine levels? (Because there are some good hacks for that one too). Seriously though, given that an increased earning potential is the big rational reason to go to college, how else should it be measured? If you're criticizing the current paradigm for valuing college, or even for valuing life, those are significantly bigger societal issues than a one liner does justice.