Seeking a college degree forces a person to learn a lot of material in a short span of time. I am fully aware of MIT's open-courseware and I've watched a few lectures, read syllabuses and assignments, but I still plan on enrolling in my local university's distance education program in order to take their core computer science courses in preparation for the masters program.
Could I just read some books on assembly language, data structures and operating systems? Sure. But I don't trust myself to crack open the books and do assignments every night unless my money and grades are on the line.
For many people, probably not. But there is a huge variance. How much more money did Steve Ballmer make in his career because he met Bill Gates at Harvard? Nobody knows, obviously, but the odds on anyone becoming a multi-billionaire (like he is) are incredibly slim. I'm not saying his story is at all typical, just that the decision can pay off in completely unexpected ways.
True, but they (or any other actors in such an improbable but miraculous story) could have met in a variety of other forums, few as expensive and complicated as college.
True, but the odds of that happening are probably similar to the lottery. I'm not trying to argue that college is worthless or of low value (I think the answer can only be subjective). But if one is to argue that it is valuable, they should probably base it on the learning opportunities.
Equivalent networking and social opportunities exist in plenty other areas of life that don't cost you tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Depending on your industry and (sometimes) on your college, you're more likely to get in touch with those more influential and powerful than you (for science it might be renowned researchers, for law high-up law offices, etc). Since your friends went through the same college experience, the same goes for them. Therefore you're all in a good position to help each other.
I personally want to go into biology-related research. College is pretty much vital for this since I have access to professors who can go beyond what's in the textbook as well as have numerous opportunities to work in actual labs.
Now, if I were to start a software startup I admit that college is not necessarily the best option. Teaching yourself is easier and more likely to give you a good-enough foundation and if you're in the right place it'll be easier to hang out with the right crowd. However, for people who otherwise live in places far-removed from tech hotspots, college can give them a chance to move somewhere with a better chance of being noticed.
Also, besides startup-related events, what other non-college ways are there to have access to lots of networking opportunities?
I'm not trying to say that's the only reason you should go to college -- meeting smart people is simply one of many reasons. There are a lot of valuable payoffs that come with minimal risk, like the degree itself. And there are plenty of good colleges you can go to that don't cost 100k.
If going to college was truly not worth it, then you'd see a lot more people not doing it. The fact that going to college is a such a common course of action says that people actually find value in it (or there's a giant inefficiency in the market -- which is the argument of this article, but I think it's worth considering the alternative as well).
And I don't think the lottery analogy works. Regardless of what you (legally) do, you can't influence the chance that a single lottery ticket of yours wins. But you can improve the chance that certain low-probability events happen to you (like founding a successful startup) by your actions. And I think going to a good college can be one of those actions for many people.
If you want to network in your industry, it's probably just best to get some small job in whatever industry your interested in, go to the local ___ industry club, (Linux user groups, iphone developer groups, mechanics'r'us, etc), make friends and teach yourself. I found doing that helped my carreer more than local college buddies who didn't have much in the form of connections or experience anyway.
There's something to be gained by networking outside your industry. Not all great ideas exist within the group. Artists talking to coders talking to scientists talking to historians produces connections that may go unnoticed.
Could I just read some books on assembly language, data structures and operating systems? Sure. But I don't trust myself to crack open the books and do assignments every night unless my money and grades are on the line.