college is not the ripoff. it's a tool. but some people just don't need the tool. matter of fact, a lot of people have no business being in college. not because they're not smart. but because they don't have goals and objectives. and the ones that do some of them don't even need college to reach their objectives.
as others have said, unless you want to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, a teacher/professor, accountant or anything where you need certification, chances are you don't "need" college. you don't need college to learn how to be an entrepreneur.
on the flipside, most of us aren't entrepreneurs. not everyone should be an entrepreneur. and if you want to work for a big corporation and climb up, chances are you probably need college. smaller business you probably only need connections in a lot of cases. college helps you network as well but there are other ways to network and a lot of people who end up going to college don't even network like that. as far as the actual knowledge, again unless you want to be a doctor, engineer, physicist, biologist, chemist, etc, (where you would actually need access to supplies, equipment and facilities), you can get most of the knowledge for free in libraries or online through an internet connection you already pay for anyway.
i'm not pro or against college. in some situations it makes sense, in some it doesn't. i just feel like you should at least know why you're going to college, why you need it and how it fits into helping you achieve your objectives. not just go because "it's the thing to do". people paying the school without knowing why they're attending and then blame the school for taking their money, blame the financial institution for charging them interest, blame everyone except themselves...
you should also have a sound financial plan on how to manage the cost of college if you choose to go. "i'll just get my dream job when i graduate and pay off my debt in no time" is not a sound financial plan in this uncertain job market.