Dezrah nailed it in page 1 of this thread.
At the most expensive and prestigious schools, engineering programs aside (and we can even have this argument about those) many of the faculty who advise students do not view college as "job training." Rather, they view it as a chance to become a well rounded person who gains some critical reasoning skills before the student proceeds to graduate/professional school to get real professional training. In fact, I have many colleagues who are devoted to the ideals of a liberal arts education and love to encourage students to explore fields they've never heard of and pursue whatever catches their eye. But at the same time, the same colleagues are SHOCKED to read that some graduates actually get jobs right after school without going to grad school. I kid you not. Just sat in a meeting where someone had collected direct stats showing that a good fraction of undergraduates who major in our discipline (about a third) go straight to work after college. This did not surprise me, but several of my colleagues had real trouble understanding the concept that NOT ALL of OUR graduates want to continue with 4+ years of additional education after college. Please remember that most professors have never worked outside of academia, so they've not really even been exposed to the normal job market; my Mom calls professors "hot house flowers," and she's got it exactly right. And these folks are giving out ADVICE to 18 year olds about what they should do in college.
College is NOT a ticket out of being poor. That is a myth. It was never designed that way. It was designed for the wealthy, not for the poor, and many schools retain this model (especially the prestigious, expensive schools.) That's part of the reason why family wealth dramatically increases the chances that someone who enters college will actually finish college. Getting a "book smarts" education beside someone who is wealthy does not make you wealthy. I wish it did, because dang I had some college friends from loaded families.
