Opportunity Cost

I have been wondering about the pros and cons of grad school education in general, and Ph.D. in particular. One thing that most people do not talk about is the opportunity cost of the decision to go to school for 7 more years (2 Masters + 5 Ph.D). Exactly how much does one loose in terms of lost earnings? More importantly, how long does it take for us to make up the difference?

I am suspicious that the numbers don’t play out well for grad school, else they will be touting it around. More on this later.

PS: First post from Google Chrome!