Those engineers probably had a job market with serious salaries to work for, and a course load relevant to that market. Kids these days live in a dying society with no hope. Why the fuck should they try? “Get a degree” is the quest. The assignment isn’t to learn something, it’s to get that fancy page. One of the required items is take some token bullshit art class. So we’ll do the one where we sit through movies.

The “go to college to become successful” thing is mostly bullshit; see there’s that community of people who were already going to be successful because their parents are, and what they get out of college is unsupervised time together with their peers. It’s not about Calculus 2 homework and Sociology lectures, It’s about not saying anything to your roommate’s girlfriend about the girl your roommate was fucking last night, the resulting bro-hood that earned, and your roommate becoming the district attorney in 12 years time. That’s what the people who are in congress got out of college. The thing is, you have to be one of them when you get there already.

Hell, I think the entire reason this ritual is academic-scented is because scholarship and science were a big fad with the elite about 300 years ago.

Actually walking the walk, going to school to learn the material the professors are teaching and getting a job in research or the professions will land you a job that pays marginally better than McDonald’s and a lifetime’s worth of debt. Doctors don’t get rich anymore. “Scientist” is the occupation of applying for grants. There’s no money to be had in actual academia…unless you’re owner of the school and teenage drinking buddy with the man who is now the governor.

College itself has very little to offer those who are planning to go get a job that doesn’t have some regulatory “it is a felony to do this job without a degree” requirement like lawyer, engineer or physician, but it has become a de facto societal requirement. Which has turned college into less of an educational experience and more of a trial to endure. And these kids are enduring it.