My turn
A few thoughts...
To the guy who said that making $45k right out of school was good money, $45k might be good money for a college graduate, but it ain't sh!t in a metro area with a high COL. Trust me. I know.
To the guy who works on docks at the USPS: $60k is decent money (especially if you can make that kind of money where housing is cheap), and you will find many people who will be content with a paycheck like that until retirement. My parents are college educated, and I'm not sure they make that kind of money combined. I don't know what the retirement benefits are there, but if they're *anything* you will find little turnover in that job.
As far as the need for college, I am speaking from a "been there done that" point of view. I submit that if you know that you won't put in the effort necessary to earn above average grades (above a 3.0), don't waste your money or your parents' money. At least don't do it at a school that will saddle you with high loan payments. Why? Right now, few decent employers will look at me and it is that much harder to get into graduate school. Yeah, I really think that if you won't pull a 3.0 you're probably wasting your time and money.
And to our friend Yip: Yip, I know of a career path where you can make six figures a year within 5 years of graduating from school, and all you need is a two year degree. Career path looks like this: Got to school. Get decent grades. Take a test. Do good on test. Graudate. Wait for phone call.
I'm starting to see his point as well, and if he actually comes out and says that going to college is a waste of time, then I would have to really disagree with him.