Let’s say your student didn’t get accepted at First Choice U. And they’re less than thrilled with the choices available to them. And they can name all kinds of humongously successful people who don’t have college degrees and they tell you maybe they should just focus on doing their own thing. You might want to point them here. Or just offer up some of the following from the article:

  • “A full 97 percent of America’s major CEOs have a four-year college degree. Most of them have MBAs, and many have other advanced degrees, even doctorates.”
  • “The Kauffman Foundation conducted a survey of American tech founders in 2005, and 92 percent of them held at least a bachelor’s degree. All of the start-up companies were successful, having at least $1 million in annual sales each. But those founded by entrepreneurs with high school degrees had less than half of the average revenues and number of employees as start-ups established by Ivy League graduates.”
  • “Those who applied to elite colleges – but were rejected — earned just as much money in later life as students who actually enrolled.”
  • “Education develops the analytical skills that help people recognize and exploit business opportunities. College-educated people also seem to develop stronger inclinations to found businesses in the first place, and those businesses are rated more innovative.”