> Education was once broader than just some kind of ladder that led to a cubicle, it was about creating people with a penchant for lifelong learning, a challeng

> Education was once broader than just some kind of ladder that led to a cubicle, it was about creating people with a penchant for lifelong learning, a challenge that tested people and improved them, a means to share information and discoveries. Yes. However, when it was like that, college was pretty much the domain of the wealthy. If your family was already wealthy, there was really no need for college to provide skills for a job. In addition, when it was like that, the assumption was that high school would provide the needed job skills, and there was also a very robust apprenticeship system. A person with a high school degree could support a family and own a home. Theology and medicine were basically the only careers other than academia that required college. Even for law, you could apprentice under a lawyer and sit for the boards without law school. Once college became a universal expectation and was supported by taxes (via government backed loans, GI Bill, etc), it became far more oriented to a jobs ladder.