A lot of the people here are IMO rightfully criticizing that not more thought has been given to the possibility that being able to get into college and pay for

A lot of the people here are IMO rightfully criticizing that not more thought has been given to the possibility that being able to get into college and pay for college is simply a good indicator for a lifetime premium in earnings. The only point I found in this article is the FSU study in which they try to control against factors by comparing students who barely made the cut. They came out with a 11% rate of return. (I looked up the study but couldn't find whether it refers to 11% return on the monthly salary or lifetime earnings) It's left for us to decide whether this is a significant enough, especially given the option value of college and lack of alternatives to college. P.S.: 75k (the cost of attending FSU) invested in a currently 3.7 treasury bond yields 118k after 30 years.