They had to dumb down all academics so a certain segment of society wouldn’t look so very sub standard.
Go over to the airport, and note who runs the various car rental agencies. In the 1980s...it was a 50-year old guy, high school grad. Today? It’s a mid-twenties individual, with a college degree. We actually turned chief of each agency into a significant position, but basically the same pay schedule, yet this was all done by high school grad’s in previous years.