“Higher education” is just another taxpayer-funded racket that doesn’t have to work well in order to be successful.
Not that I disagree with this assessment of yours, but it is an odd coincidence that academia, lower education (K-12), the military, the Democrat Party, the media, most large city governments, and the Deep State (have I left anyone out?) all march to the same drummer.
Maybe this is just an organic movement that happens to appeal to all the aforementioned institutions, but that is quite a coincidence.