In Time, polymath Vartan Gregorian offers a riposte to the popular contemporary idea that college dropouts–Jobs, Gates, Dell, Zuckerberg–are more likely to become wealthy, an idea he says is espoused by books like Michael Ellsberg’s The Education of Millionaires. An excerpt:

“I am also not surprised that while Ellsberg highlights the accomplishments of dropouts, he excludes degree holders who have become wealthy and famous. For example, of the current Fortune 500 CEOs, some 99% have a college degree. Similarly, of the Forbes 400 richest people in America, 81% hold postsecondary degrees. (In my experience, when the time comes for both well-off college dropouts and graduates to send their children to school, they both opt for the most highly rated schools on anyone’s list, no matter what the cost.) So why should the exception — the dropout — become the rule to emulate?”