Yes, they often take entry level jobs that do not require a college degree. If they ever want a promotion, however, they usually will need that degree. Much easier to get it in 4 years when you are 18-22 and have few responsibilities than to do it when you are older, have a full-time job, a mortgage, and kids. I still think a college education, in the long run, pays off if you are not going to be self-employed.
So far I’ve seen zero benefit from my degree. Hasn’t gotten me a single job I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.
I’ve had to spend considerable time actually working on my weak areas AFTER my degree in order to finish the contracts that I did get, so not only was it unproductive, it was counterproductive in that it didn’t give me the skills I needed in order to be competitive in the workforce.
As for being informative, my classes were for the most part garbage. But I stuck through and I have my degree. Now I’ll probably have to go back once more to get the credentials that employers seem to expect these days. Sad. 17 years of education apparently isn’t enough.