No. There's a flaw in the reasoning above. For years in the US, society has perceived that there is something wrong with a young person who did not complete high school. Want to find a good mate? Stay in school. Want a decent job? Stay in school. So, young people, fearing societal judgement and the accompanying disadvantages, stayed in school. Given these judgements, those who did not complete high school likely indeed had something wrong with them or came from families without means. So, a simple comparison of the outcomes for high school graduates vs. dropouts usually has shown significant differences. What percentage of these differences can be explained by the selection bias of the sample pools vs. actual effects of the treatment (a high school diploma)?
The same selection biases hold true for a college education. Few with ambition have considered skipping college. Without any metrics on the abilities, goals, etc. of those skipping college, we can not determine whether differences are the result of selection bias or treatment.
My Hungarian in-laws "dropped out" of high school in 1956 to come to the US. During the revolution, they escaped across the border into Austria and eventually got to the US (Green Cards effectively handed out when they got of the plane). My father-in-law attended a few night school classes over the years, but never obtained any formal degrees. He retired as the CEO of a small manufacturing organization for which he still consults -- a good outcome for anyone by most accounts. The difference between him and the average middle class American teenager was that it took a certain level of ambition and risk tolerance to decide with only a few days notice (the revolution was sudden and short-lived) to leave his home country for an uncertain future. Not entering into a degree program was an active choice -- not a passive result of low ambition.
I am annoyed with the popular press's continued assertion that education has value simply because the outcomes of those with education are better. Unless someone measures various personal characteristics and then randomizes the treatment (education vs. workforce entry), I won't buy into claims about how valuable education is.
Ironically, I have two graduate degrees.