A recent article in the New York Times, entitled “Saying No to College,” examines the choice of many high-school students, some of whom would qualify to attend the nation’s most prestigious schools, not to attend college at all. Citing crushing student debt, college-dropout tech gurus and burgeoning programs, such as internships with entrepreneurs, the article suggests that college is overrated, and that many students would be better-served by seeking their fortunes elsewhere. The idea that college is not the way forward for many young people is becoming increasingly popular, but however much in vogue that notion may be, overarching arguments against attending college are rarely thought out enough to be taken seriously, which is ultimately unfair to students honestly unsure of whether college is right for them.

It’s common for opponents of collegiate education to mention men like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates and to hold them up as examples of what one can do in lieu of college. This is valid to some degree, but it is far from universally applicable. The people who can found Microsoft or Facebook are few and far between, and most of us, however smart or competent we may be, are not and will not be internationally successful entrepreneurs or even successful small-business owners; half of new businesses fold within five years.

Being successful entrepreneurs is not the only thing Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have in common: they are also tech whizzes. Technology, specifically, programming, is a unique field in that it doesn’t necessarily require a college-style education. Someone can be a moderately successful programmer just by learning a programming language. There is a reason that most drop-out success stories are not of scientists, politicians, investment bankers or non-governmental organization founders.

If one opts out of the college and programming tracks, a new problem rears its head: competing with the myriad of older, degree-holding college graduates who are intent upon securing a job. Statistically, college graduates earn significantly more than do their high-school-educated counterparts, and all things being equal, employers will almost invariably choose the applicant who holds a diploma.

It is also worth noting that both Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, as well as many people who do not earn a degree, still benefitted from a college education, albeit an incomplete one. Both gained significant experience while studying at Harvard and made a number of connections that would allow them ultimately to become titans in the tech industry. Saying that college was not necessary for these people is making the erroneous assumption that the years either individual spent at the nation’s most prestigious university were worthless.

Judging the success of a college education by simply looking at earning potential is implicitly disregarding the value of learning for its own sake or the college experience. Determining the value of college is not simply a numbers game. While some high-school students may choose a college based on its alumni network, many choose a school based on the intelligence and personality of its student body. They consider the social experience of college just as important as the academic experience. And for many, an academic experience can hardly be reduced to one’s future ability to land a six-figure salary.

It would be wrong to say that college is for everyone, and it would be wrong to say that a college degree is a prerequisite for success. But the argument that many students are better off without college isn’t fair if it hinges on misleading outlier examples and earning figures.