[FuzzieAlum]

A lot of this makes a lot of sense, but it hardly makes sense to pick a school based on ROI alone. For example, if ROI suggests you should go to a large state school, but you're a shy kid who would feel overwhelmed and possibly drop out at Massive U, it just isn't a good choice. People attend religious institutions and HBCUs for reasons that have little to do with cost-effectiveness.

Mediocre private schools may not be a good monetary investment, but if the kids going to them all went elsewhere, not only would those schools be out of business, but other schools couldn't absorb them all. And the fact is, what about less than stellar students? If you can't get into Harvard or Big Quality State U, does that leave as your only option Regional State U? Too bad for you that your regional state college has no Greek orgs or campus life - and that you've been dying to get away from your parents.

The original study addresses a valid point (is expensive education worth it from a ROI standpoint), but the article makes it sound as if that's the only reason we pick a school. Heck, in terms of ROI, I would have been better off skipping college and getting my cousin to get me a job as a longshoreman - or at least not majoring in English!