There are lots of jobs other than being an author that require basic writing skills. If you are any kind of office or retail manager for example. I'm not saying you have to be able to write a novel, just coherent writing of the kind you see here on FR (at least most of the time). I have talked to employers who require a BA or better for positions that really don't need it, just so they will get someone who can hopefully write at what should be junior high school level.
I was being facetious (and showing MY lack of English ability by not knowing if that word is spelled right). Same with history, biology, foreign languages, just about every subject.
Not that I think a well-rounded education is all there is - I always thought that was a buzz word for not being able to decide what to major in. But that was back in the day when schools did teach most subjects well, so kids got the options to chose their career paths. It wasn’t all liberals artsy stuff that was pushed.
I hear ya - college degrees are required for lots of jobs now, not just those requiring writing - just to find the people that had the motivation to finish the degree. Those just might show up to work on time, LOL!
I think you said it - that college is required now because it has taken the place what high school should be. Or someone else brilliant here said it! If my niece from Italy were to come here after high school, she could start college as a junior, they are that much ahead. NOT that I advocate anything that socialist country is doing for us here, but it does show how badly we are slipping.