I really like this post by John Philipin, and this quote about education and colleges that I wish was my own:
A university is to educate .. not train. If you are wondering about the difference, ask yourself if you prefer your children to attend sex education classes or sex training classes.
My additional two cents is that this is the consequence of a society that defines success as wealth, and wealth as a dollar value. Already back when I was in college in the mid 80s, the majority of my colleagues were there to get the degree to get the “good paying” job. Honestly, that is why I went to college, because the society I lived in, which included my family and peers and nearly all adults defined success as wealth and wealth dependent on a college degree. The point of view may have been framed as enabling the middle class to move up, but in reality it was the destruction of the middle class.