Plenty of college degrees lead to high earnings if you are smart and hardworking. But those are pretty much limited to STEM degrees or accounting and finance. Requiring a college degree to work at the DMV is ridiculous. Then you have the current status that most historical liberal arts degrees result in negative education. I had a history degree, but with a minor in accounting with enough hours to sit for the CPA exam, then a law degree. My history degree was largely classical and focused on western civ. Today, it would be largely Marxist and focused on destroying western civ - negative education. Plus my history degree was pretty cheap compared to today.
My father-in-law quit school at 16 and went to work on the tug boats to support his mom. Guy was a brilliant do it your selfer and could add measuring fractions in his head much better than I could (years of ten key machines and Excel do their damage). Definitely didn't need a woman studies degree.
So, we have millions of entitled pricks with worthless college degrees that think the world owes them a living that doesn't entail actual working, let alone working with your hands.