Does college produce a marginal benefit?

We've all grown up knwing that you almost have to college if you want to make it anywhere in the world. I would be willing to bet that for this reason the majority of us are even attending college. I mean, we could be out working paying jobs and earning some money, but instead we are here, paying even more money to go school for even longer. Why? Because it is supposed to pay of in the long run. We are supposed to earn much more money for coming here and spending an extra hundred-thousand dollars that could have been avoided by going straight to work. When we get out of here we are supposed to be able to pay back our hundred-thousand no problem and spend the rest of our lives earning an income that we can put forth to things that we really want. Is this what will happen? Things still seem to be pointing in the direction of college being alomst necessary, however things also seem to be changing. When my parents were growing up if you had a bachelors degree from college you were far above the rest and would earn top dollar for your skills. Now, a bachelors degree is almost as common as a morning cup of coffee and graduate school is quickly becoming important if you want to earn that extra buck. A bachelors degree now is nearly required to find a decent job and a masters will get you the big money, but is it worth the cost? As i said before, we pay about a hundred-thousand dollars to go to college and that is before graduate school, but college tuition is rising each year and doesn't show signs of stopping anytime soon. A not only is tuition rising rapidly but the new Bush budget for upcoming years will cut much of the funding that is given to those who are pursuing a college career. Will the average person be able to afford college for much longer? Are we on our way to needing a masters to survive or are we closer to regressing back to the days where a high school diploma would get a decent job where you could work your way up? Are college becoming too expensive? All Marietta College students recieved a memo in the mail this past week letting us know of the new 4.25% increase in tuition here at MC. I don't about everyone else but I have enough loans as it is let alone now having to take on more because of yet another increase. Will it ever stop? Will the market ever actually level out and form some set of standard?