The problem isn't (just) the money side of things...
The problem is the truth of the old adage... 'went in dumb, came out dumb too'. And simply enough; our society.
Once was a time all children were working at 13. Helping on farms, in family businesses, etc. Now a child has to apply to be allowed to work. I did when I was 13. I'm 38 now.
Once was a time when there were single-classroom schools that taught everyone. And the kids helped each other. Now, we have everything regimented and divided, no one looks out for one another (mostly) , and there are almost more rewards for doing badly than there are for doing well.
Once was a time kids were reading Shakespeare and the like by 6th grade. Now I've heard of kids not even touching it until college.
High school was supposed to prepare kids for LIFE... And college. College/University was supposed to prepare kids for LIFE and high-level jobs. It is simply no longer true. The few exceptions might be Law School and the like.
Schools (and parents) no longer teach kids what it means to survive, nor give them the tools to do so. Common sense has been out the window for longer than I can recall.
The price for learning has gone sky-high, and the quality and simple amount that is taught is nearly negligible. Schools have gone from worrying about teaching kids, to who can make the most money and how many star athletes they can pump-out.
Teachers now have almost no incentive to teach properly anymore. Like doctors, they are too scared to do it properly. The fear of lawsuits about doing ANYTHING but letting the kids do what they want has paralyzed their ability and desire to truly teach.
Once was a time when you got your A$$ beat for speaking back to a teacher or skipping school. Now the biggest 'punishment' is to tell a kid not to come to school. Something many, if not MOST of the troublemakers don't want to do. So the punishment, is actually a reward.
THESE are the reasons why schools, and this country, is failing at higher education.
