"You'll never go back to school - The statistics don't lie on this one: people who take terms off are disproportionately unlikely to finish up, even if its only a couple classes."
Is this just evidence that once people start working, they find the value of the degree to be less than cost of finishing it?
A traditional economist's view of behavior would answer "yes" to this question even if that isn't always the reality. You hit on the point though - not going back to school could very well be the best thing for you. You won't know until you try, and the opportunity cost of time is rarely factored into that equation.