This might not be a popular take, but I think there is a serious issue with the way we perceive education, at least in the US. A previous comment noted how this needs to be a business decision, and it appears to me that's precisely the issue.

Increasing costs and other factors has led to education being treated as an investment to improve your standing in the workforce, as opposed to being seen as a net good on it's own. Society benefits from a more educated population overall, but through the connection to employment, wages, etc, as a collective we seem to have lost sight of that.