>People with college degrees earn significantly more over their lifetimes. This is almost certainly due to people with college degrees having more racial and e

>People with college degrees earn significantly more over their lifetimes. This is almost certainly due to people with college degrees having more racial and economic privilege than people without college degrees. Controlling for this I'd doubt the difference was that large. >Also, they usually understand the world and critical thinking much better, have better communication skills, etc This is probably the just-world fallacy. People who can waste money on higher education, especially during a sustained "recession"/depression, are people who already have money and connections. It's never been about what you know, it's been about who you know. College is a good way to buy those connections. If you start seeing rosy pictures of the world, you should notice that and correct for it. The world is not a rosy place. For any question that fits the template "Does X fulfill its direct stated purpose?" the answer is almost certainly no. Notice that the sea change we're seeing doesn't actually amount to a paradigm shift. It's not like people from the economic class prevented from getting college degrees now can afford to fuck around on Udacity and "hustle" to get a job. Don't worry, there's no more equality now.