Going to school in the US we had statistics available that showed that a BS was nearly optimal for expected earnings. A masters' was associated with a slightly higher expected earning while PhDs dramatically lowered the number.

The US is fucking weird though.

I have studied in Belgium where university is very cheap (800 euros per year), so most of the people would go into either a bachelor or a master degree.

When we were about to finish, the university tried to get some of us to stay as PhD students. Nobody did, just because the industry seemed more up-to-date and less reluctant to change.

Is it the case in your countries too?