The point of the credential is to show that you're the type of person who can succeed in a tough environment. Whether doing well in undergrad actually shows tha

The point of the credential is to show that you're the type of person who can succeed in a tough environment. Whether doing well in undergrad actually shows that you can succeed in the face of adversity is up for debate, but that's the main point of the diploma for most majors and it's not clear to me how you would replace it. In fields that aren't based on hard knowledge credentialism is even more important as it's less clear what to test for in interviews.