[Porsche-O-Phile]

Yea, I'd say that's a big part of it.

Also the fact that academic rank (as in "grade completed") means less and less as time goes on. A bachelor's degree today is what a high school diploma was in the 1970s or earlier. In order to REALLY get a pretty certain shot at being white collar today, one needs a graduate degree (which translates to many tens of thousands of dollars of additional cost and many more tens of thousands in earnings lost/short-term opportunity cost)

Students are rubber stamped through the system, teacher's unions undermine and destroy the educational focus of primary and secondary education, colleges seem less concerned about quality graduates than ever before, opting to simply "rubber stamp" any student who can simply write the checks, etc.

I agree education needs to change, but where to start?