> And that basis for college education also seems to be crumbling.
Wouldn't you say that already fully crumbled as soon as we thought it was a good idea to make college available to all? Those attributes can only hold under an exclusive club. Which, indeed, describes the early origins of college, but not what it has been for quite a long time.
No - even if a (bright enough) ill-born daughter of a poor, non-white mother can get in, college can still carry quite a bit of cachet - on the basis of learning being a moral virtue, graduates having greater knowledge & understanding, meritocracy, etc.
Learning remains a moral virtue of some sort, people are gaining greater knowledge and understanding, etc. but it now happens everywhere you look. You can't hardly step outside without being exposed to things that would have historically only been available to people within a college institution.
The cachet was being an exclusive club that kept exclusive information and connections away from non-exclusive people, but those days are long behind us. When college became common, what college offered became common, and thus no longer valuable. Basic supply and demand.
Where college has managed to retain some value into modern times is in the dating pool it offers. Providing a sizeable group of young people living in close proximity and ready to mingle is quite valuable. That is what has recently started to erode, thanks to service like Tinder encroaching on that space.
Wouldn't you say that already fully crumbled as soon as we thought it was a good idea to make college available to all? Those attributes can only hold under an exclusive club. Which, indeed, describes the early origins of college, but not what it has been for quite a long time.