Classic case of short term vs long term incentives. Dumbing down the schools results in both an increase in enrollment due to the increase in eligible candidat

Classic case of short term vs long term incentives. Dumbing down the schools results in both an increase in enrollment due to the increase in eligible candidates and a decrease in enrollment due to decreasing the value of the credential. But the former is instant, and the latter takes a long time to develop as it takes quite a while for the reputation to catch up with reality on the ground. So the university system has spent the last several decades basically consuming its most valuable asset (exclusivity) for short term growth. And it worked. For a while, at least. But now the long term effects are catching up with them and it has become apparent that the strategy is actually a doom loop: lower standards to raise enrollment -> reduce value of credential -> less students enroll -> lower standards to raise enrollment