Yes, I am saying cut in half, not abandoning altogether!
There are definitely some things to be done in liberal arts, but, unfortunately, these are not very popular with press. Classical literature, music, linguistic, philosophy, history, religion. That all belongs to the education of the whole person.
And by the way - slaves did not do all physical work. That was a simplification made by Marx. There were always free middle class people, artisans, farmers, fishermen.
An some slaves made it into liberal arts masters (Epictetus).
In general, I agree about the need for more professional training, not just in "business," of which there are already far too many degree programs. We need a lot more schools that teach the skilled trades at the high school level. Pushing it all to post-secondary education is a scam-- the public are asked to pay twice over for an education that ought to have been completed in high school.
There's also the point that certain subjects like political philosophy and history are necessary to understand the Constitution and be an informed citizen, while others (to state it simply) are concerned with the good, the true, and the beautiful, and so are worth studying for their own sake. There are hardly any colleges or universities left that teach the humanities the way they should.