On the K-12 level that school credential is literally worthless.
Homeschoolers have proven that. Colleges routinely admit homeschoolers who have no high school diploma. For those that do attend institutional school, the colleges and universities depend a great deal on SAT and ACT scores ( private tests) and class rank.
Am I correct that the military administers its own tests and a certain score is needed for admission regardless of whether the applicant is a high school graduate or not.
In my own business, I absolutely would not interview anyone unless their resume showed that they had at least some community college courses. It was the only way I could quickly determine ( without wasting my time in interviews) if the applicant was literate and numerate.
LOL, I was speaking up to the Masters' level. As far as I am concerned, the spread between competent and worthless from the universities is intolerable. So I agree with you in all other respects.
But then, you knew that. :-)