Ok, that&#x27;s fine.  It&#x27;s still within the range I mentioned above.  But, I&#x27;ll just note for the record that you rounded $587k down to $500k, and $840k down to $800k.<p>&gt; But these studies are all flawed because they are based on historical data when 4-year degrees were scarcer. In an era when many graduates can&#x27;t get a job or end up with one that does not require a degree (i.e. barista) it&#x27;s obvious that their ROI prospects are grim.<p>I don&#x27;t think that&#x27;s at all obvious.  We are rapidly approaching the moment [1] when over half of the U.S. population has some sort of college degree, and already 2&#x2F;3rds have at least &quot;some college&quot; education.<p>Applying to a front-line retail job with a Bachelor&#x27;s degree no longer marks you as desperate and over-qualified.  You are assuming that an employer will hire a person with only a high school diploma when she can just as easily hire a person with an associate&#x27;s or bachelor&#x27;s for the same wage.  That will put downward pressure on wages for those without a college degree.<p>It may very well be the case that sending &quot;everyone&quot; to college does nothing more than depress the wages of those with only a high school education.  However, that is not an argument against the positive ROI of college.  Spending $100k to avoid $200k in lost wages is still a positive return.<p>Finding a job with a B.A. or B.Sc. may be difficult, but finding a job with only a high school diploma is even more so.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Educational_attainment_in_the_United_States" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Educational_attainment_in_the_...</a>