One of the big problems with modern education, in the USA from what I read as well as here in Britain, is that like healthcare, it has become an industry. I can’t comment on exactly how things are done in America but in Britain universities have become businesses, as many students as possible are steered towards degree courses and a lot of minor professions (such as nursing and police service) have been made degree entry even though they are clearly vocational rather than academic. The universities are profit centres, gaining revenue from sponsored research, tuition fees (mostly funded by student loans) and government grants for running certain courses that are considered politically valuable.
All of this is not serving the interests of young people (many of whom are not suited to academic study,) and is failing to meet the needs of society.