Michael Friedlander, executive director of the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, gave the keynote address at the opening of the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges on June 27.

Friedlander, who is also associate provost for health sciences at Virginia Tech and senior dean for research at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, spoke about the return on investment of higher education for individuals and society. In his address, he countered some popular misconceptions that suggest a college education and the associated debt that many students incur are not a good investment.