Exactly. We are bombarded by claims of "give us money and good things will happen to you" every single day. The message from "society" (and colleges themselves) about the benefits of college may have somewhat nobler-than-average motivations, but in the end these claims must be scrutinized in the same way as spam about Viagra or late-night infomercials.

In the end, unfortunately the issue of whether or where to go to school is entangled with many soft issues that make it difficult to employ a strictly rational analysis. For instance, if I believe the advice that I should do what I love, it's harder to come to grips with the fact that the schooling required to do so is a bigger financial bet than I can afford to make. I don't think we need special mechanisms (like tuition refunds) for people who made this particular bad bet though.

And the soonest everyone realizes this, the better off they will be. The problem, as I see it, is that they present themselves as this romantic ideal of higher purpose / education.

At least ITT Tech has the decency to tell you that they're focused on getting you a job. Even though they usually don't (from what I've heard).