Only about 10% of Americans had college degrees in the 1960s compared to about 37% today and the large majority of them were men. Does that sound like a past anyone wants to return to?
And how many of those degrees are going to result in a worthwhile job? University is a massive industry now, billions of dollars are at play, and it has never been easier to take out $100k in perma-debt to go to school. Of course more people go, a B.S. is the ground floor now, yet many degrees are barely worth the paper they are printed on.