I think this is being caused by many factors:

1. Schools have failed to utilize technologies which allow quality to be maintained and costs lowered.

2. students fail to utilize existing programs which help to reduce the need to take traditional existing classroom-based college classes, such as, AP exams or CLEP exams. High schools need to do a better job of telling students about these programs, especially CLEP exams.

3. Employers have become obsessed with the traditional degrees being the signal of high-quality employee skills as a basis to make hiring decisions or to even give an interview.