A person with a bachelors degree will earn on average 6-9 hundred thousand more than a high school grad, an advanced degree 1.5 million more, and a Ph.D. about 3 million more. This is a hard fact.

Here's my anecdotal case. I decided to get my Ph.D. when I was older and when I graduated at 45 my net worth was -$70 thousand. I parlayed my degree into high paid jobs, and over the next 20 years, just working and investing with no special good fortune, I flipped that to over a million.

You have had a bad experience, and that is unfortunate. But it is not typical.