[quartesixte]

Yeah that last bit is important. Businesses are operated by a certain class of people. How you speak, act, make connections, socialize -- if you want to work white-collar, professional jobs (or Grey-Collar ones managing blue-collar ones), you need to have all the appropriate markers and cues. College + the road to college is how those get instilled in you. That piece of paper indicates you have a high probability of correctly displaying all the right traits. Further resume items solidify that.

And yes, for certain technical fields, you will need 4 years of rigorous education in the basics of that field to be basically competent.

For other fields, networks + connections + opportunities is what you will glean (on top of the socialization). And the location matters! I'm sorry, but if you're doing marketing/communication at a state school in Nebraska, you will have a much harder time than the kid going to USC/UCLA/LMU or NYU/Columbia on the same degree. Because those kids will be quickly snapped up for jobs at marketing firms that make enough money to pay them enough money to make the degree worth it.