The problem is that a certain social standing is only attainable by a limited number of people. While college may be necessary to get to that social standing, n

The problem is that a certain social standing is only attainable by a limited number of people. While college may be necessary to get to that social standing, not everyone will be able to get there, even if they go to college. If your only reason for going to college is to try and attain that certain social standing, and you fall short, then it truly was a waste of money (and, more importantly, time). Colleges do have a struggle to convince those people of their relevance. A similar phenomena has been seen in incomes. Incomes have held stagnant for decades, even as more and more of the population have become credentialed. Maybe a degree is necessary to reach the top 1%, but those who fall short of that goal are no better off than people were in the past, when they didn't go to college.