[neltnerb]

To be maybe a bit clearer, I am not doing a purely financial analysis when I talk about how having a PhD is part of the reward. I would also never recommend grad school purely for the financial benefits! The point to me has always been that it gives more freedom (well, probably not for computer science PhDs) to direct the type of work that you do post-graduation. Instead of being a technician, you get to be much more independent in selecting projects, planning them, and potentially managing research groups whether in industry or academia. It means credibility as a consultant, it means credibility asking for more budget for a project you want to do.

And I am again, not talking about PhD's in computer science, which seem to be irrelevant in industry. I'm talking about things like physics or biology.