A lot of the reasons you go to college have to do with the bottom line. If you have a college degree, you'll have more opportunities. You'll get better jobs. You'll have advantages that can lead to more success, more money, and arguably a better life than you'd have without a college education. Those are the bottom line reasons to attend college–a means to an end. They're all valid.
But college can give you other benefits beyond the bottom line.
In September, 1989, I started college and met my freshman roommate, Craig. We lived in a dorm room the size of a matchbox and have now been good friends for 21 years, ever since that day we started our college careers together.
Tonight, I'm attending his 40th birthday party.
People who went to college reap the bottom line benefits every day. But ask them how their lives are better as a result of going to college, and they'll likely mention very different benefits, like the people they met who are still in their lives today.
You don't have to go to a famous college to reap the benefits–bottom-line or beyond-bottom-line.