And if obtaining an advanced degree is not a Mitzvah, why are the MO rabbis encouraging it instead of encouraging more learning, which is a Mitzvah? If people who only have HS education are also correct then why would rabbis recommend forgoing Torah learning for more advanced degrees if I am already doing correctly?
Obtaining an advanced degree may not be a mitzvah in itself. But if it allows you to keep kosher, send your kids to yeshiva and perform other costly religious rituals then it might be just the thing jewish communities need more of. Then ofcourse you have to look at the makeup of society and the fact that we all possess needs from others whether it be medical services, groceries, a teacher for your children etc. Its really that simple, you perform something for others and get a monetary return determined by a free market allowing you to buy other goods and services with that money. College educated people tend to earn more money on average than non college educated people, certainly more than those who never completed high school. Notwithstanding all the rabbinical quotes you have gathered and quoted quite accurately, my question to you an individual capable of thinking for himself is, how does one go about making a decent living without attaining any particular skill through formal or informal training? If eating bread and salt water is your answer, ask yourself how many of your friends and neighbors live like that? Also explain to me why you expect me to fix your pipes (for example) when you performed nothing for society and have no claims to goods and services? Seems selfish to me, even if all you do is learn day and night.