Imagine being told in your 30s that the game probably is on hard mode, but because you've somehow managed to beat a few bosses it can't actually be that much harder than easy mode so they're not going to find out for sure whether that is the case.
Tbh money isnt the main reason I went to college. There are, as you said, other ways to make money. i.e I was an insurance agent. If I bothered to go back, I could very easily make 100k a year. All off of experience and the 3 months of studying for the licensing exams and no degree required. But thats not what I actually want to do. College basically allowed me to do what I actually want to do AND live comfortably doing so.