I agree with the grandparent post. We need to define why college exists in the modern system. In the more distant past, it was purely academic. Research, exp

I agree with the grandparent post. We need to define why college exists in the modern system. In the more distant past, it was purely academic. Research, experimentation, etc. Somewhere in the last century the goal of schools shifted to be an unfocused trade school. "Learn to write well, every job needs that!". I'm not opposed to either approach, and believe that both need to exist in the world. But the idea of a 4 year college falls awkwardly in between those two ideas. I think the reason we are in this situation is because we confused cause and effect. Back when college was a much more limited institution, the smartest and best connected went to school. They then got the best jobs, and earned more money. People saw that and said "Aha! College leads to better jobs". What they missed was the "Aha! Smart people get the best jobs!". So the push to get everybody into college started, since it would guarantee the student's financial future. That of course hasn't been sustainable, and it has ruined the bachelor's degree as a useful resume signal that you are part of that top tier of people. We need to reevaluate how important exclusivity is to universities, reevaluate how kids can be trained for high end jobs (can you do a trade school for computer programming?). It may be as simple as a marketing campaign saying that plumbers and mechanics can't be outsourced and make a ton of money.