It has been that way for the last 40 years. Ever since the loan industry discovered "Grandma's College fund for the kids." From what I have seen most schools are diploma mills. Local schools can not fail students (or get sued.)
HS and college are about building social networks and determine your 'Brand.'
I never finished my degree. True of many people in the computer industry of the 1980s and 1990s. I worked with people who had advanced degrees. PhDs really do not make for practical work outside academia.
It really comes down to a person's temperament. I heard that Steve Jobs told other people I had three PhDs. When people asked I told them I had the same education as Steve. Often I would have to add, No I did not go to Reed. (One of my cousins did though.) A lot of my friends went to Mills, which was a real school. Sadly it is no more, now another diploma mill for 'Grandma's college fund.'
What most people now have is a third grade education. I shared a cubicle with a bloke who was an Oxford graduate. He knew Latin like a second language. Most in the US barely know English language. What it
does did show is that people can follow the rules and follow instruction.
What the degree does is give the company CYI accountability when management FU. So much modern business in unrealistic and unsustainable. Everything focuses on Now, Now, Now. No sense of past or future.
I used to take my lunch breaks and visit the local surplus stores. (now eWaste is big business, controlled by international syndicates and exported overseas.) The shelves were packed with many "of the stuff dreams are made of."