hertclef

Highly relevant to your comment is episode 6 of Malcomb Gladwell's Revisionist History Podcast [0]. In the episode, Gladwell asks the president of Stanford whether there was any amount of money he would turn down because he thought it would better spent somewhere else. He replied, somewhat evasively, that no, there wasn't really an sum large enough. It's a truly incredible interview to listen to.

I highly recommend the three part series about college education that makes up episodes 4,5,6 of the season 1. But, if you have the time, I think the entire podcast is excellent while noting that I am not a huge fan of Gladwell's books.

[0] http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/06-my-little-hundred-...