I'm also skeptical of the link between "going to college" and "getting a good paying job". On average, people with college degrees earn more, but that covers a lot of people who got their degrees (and jobs) years ago. Today, a lot of "college" jobs are being outsourced overseas. I have a college degree (as well as a master's in science) and I've been laid off three times in the last four years. A lot of the jobs in my field are going to China. Many of my former co-workers are abandoning their advanced degrees and moving into fields that don't require college degrees - blue collar jobs, health care, etc. I have one friend with two advanced degrees who now gives facials for a living, and makes 3x as much money as she did as a scientist (plus, she's not getting laid off every other year). If I was looking for a new career today, I'd be thinking "what kind of job can't be moved overseas", not "what job can I get with a college degree".

(Not to mention, if everyone got a college degree, it would become meaningless, and any job that needed extra skills would require a master's degree - something that's already happened in many science jobs. Jobs that were once given to scientists with BS degrees now require an MS - no change in job requirements, just degree inflation.