Decades ago, the best and brightest entered higher learning which kept the standards high.
Now......not so much.
“Everyone should have a college education”...the mantra of the ignorant.
That may be true for many (most?) students who drive up phenomenal amounts of debt to earn degrees in fields of questionable value. For those who are handsomely paid to deliver those degrees, not so much. In fact, some highly intelligent people have learned it's easier to peddle snake oil to naive young minds than to earn a living the old fashioned way.
I don't mean to insult all knowledge peddlers and administrators in the education market. There are some outstanding teachers out there who disperse information of real economic value. Unfortunately, there's no shortage of others delivering pablum like it was manna from Heaven. Even worse, there are the far more numerous education bureaucrats hanging onto the system for all it's worth.
Plus, it only follows that after you've been snookered out of a lot of money for a piece of paper in a field that doesn't really need it, you tend to demand that same paper from anyone else who wants a job. You're not likely to let someone get a “free” ride when you had to pay your dues, so to speak.
I see jobs that require college degrees all the time, but many could be easily performed by high school graduates after a bit of on the job training. The degree is simply a ticket, in some cases, to getting your foot in the door.
When the SHTF, a lot of people are going to be in sorry shape. Unless one can eat 8 1/2” x 11”, it might be far better to know a trade, like plumbing or farming.