If this is true:

> The average, middle class person thinks about education as an expenditure, not an investment

Is it a state-occupied (compulsory) education system that does so? IMO, it is. For example, many(most? vast majority of?) people go to college to get a diploma, not to get actual education. The system sucks and doesn't deliver any actual value(in terms of knowledge or personal growth, not in terms of signaling to the market), so no wonder that people don't view education as an investment.