It IS a sad and shocking state of affairs.
I think that as a society, we're approaching one of those turning points. I know that when I graduated from high school, the assumption was that a university degree--ANY degree--was a ticket into the job market. That just doesn't seem to be the case anymore.
In my area, there are 3 universities in the city where I live, and another 5 within 2 hours of here. The pressure on young people to enroll in university is very high. BUT...they're graduating with crushing debt and slim job prospects in a limited number of shrinking fields.
Meanwhile, a lot of the skilled trades and "applied" jobs are desperately looking for people. For those jobs, a 2-year community college diploma leads to an apprenticeship and much better job prospects, all with siginficantly lower tuition fees.
For students going through high school right now, I'd strongly encourage them to give some serious thought to what they want to do, what they're good at, and whether a university degree will actually get them into a job they think they'll enjoy, be good at and do well in.
Tough times. We need better solutions.
Trinity