I have always wondered when this society decided to run it's economy using the AKC (American Kennel Club) as it's model.
You can't get into the ring (job market) unless you have your papers (diploma). I graduated hs in 1972 and immediately got a job as a secretary. I took typing and shorthand in hs. Now, you can't even apply for a job like that without a bachelor's degree, at least. A high school diploma doesn't mean much in the job market any more. When my eldest daughter graduated from Indiana University, we had a conversation about her future and she was going for the Masters degree because "a bachelor's degree doesn't mean anything anymore". So, now she has a Master's Degree and a huge college loan to pay off.
I think that lefties started this by getting their degrees, this put them in places to hire others, they only hired other people with degrees. Grade inflation, from the elementary/high school level has now pushed into the college level so that you simply can't depend on a bachelor's degree to tell you someone is competent. The young person goes on for a Masters, because that is now what is required to get a decent paying job (which you need because of all of the money you owe to various colleges). It is a never ending spiral, which people get caught up in and it affects the quality of their lives because of the cost of the schooling which they are now paying off for decades.
Not only that but it was to keep the commies comfortably working in their insulated universities while looking down on the average worker. Now if you want a job that pays, you must go to them.
They need to do away with some of these degree requirements and put in more apprenticeship programs.