A high school diploma hasn't been worth the paper it is printed on for quite some time. Heck, I graduated in '84 and there were people in my graduating class whom, literally, couldn't read.

On the other hand, college degrees can mean a whole lot, or almost nothing, depending on where they're from. I think a bachelor's from Harvard, MIT, or Caltech is as good as a doctorate from some universities. I'd like to think that employers still take this into consideration. I could be wrong.

I also think that Varn is right about people thinking they deserve more than they have earned in life these days, both financially and emotionally. I think Joel hit the nail on the head. It's our generations fault. We wanted to be friends with our kids, not their parents.