You get a stamp of approval, even if you don't remember most of the things you studied and in 4 years your knowledge becomes obsolete.
When I was in college I used to call it "the sheep dip." I pictured us as sheep being herded into a pen where they dipped each of us into an anti-parasitic. Because in many ways it didn't seem to matter if you learned anything. It was all just about getting your stamp of approval in the form of a degree.
I think in many ways the university is "an instrument of class distinction" as an Englishman once called an umbrella. They are there to decide whether you are officially Middle Class or not.
yeap. and the middle class is getting all too crowded...
And they keep moving the goalposts. If too many people get college degrees, there will be more requirements to join the Middle Class.