I have previously asked aloud whether a good way for a budding young economics professor to NOT get tenure, is to do a cost-benefit analysis of different classes, or majors, at the institution he works at. Compare starting salaries of recent grads, with their course lists, and see whether there is enough data to place an economic value on each course. Probably a lot of the classes will have negative value, those people who take such a course will get a lower salary than someone who doesn’t. I think this will upset enough people on the tenure committee to ensure an unfavorable outcome.
In today’s environment you are right about value. In the old days (+40 years ago), college was about learning and not how much money you made. It was also not for everyone. Learning was its own reward was something I was constantly taught. College is simply a glorified trade school and not a very good one at that.
Jerry Pournelle did that study - for high schools. He got his degree, as I recall, on condition that he didn’t publish. It turns out a) many suburban schools go a horrible job preparing students, and b) that virtually all high-minority high schools have low college success, except for a few minority and most non-minority students.