College isn’t going anywhere. Where I grew up, rich parents sent their kids to college (in many cases their own alma mater) to get them out of the house, have them find a future spouse, continue playing a sport but at a college level, join a fraternity and/or make new connections. Learning skills for a job or doing research were dead last on the list of priorities for either parent or student. And that’s who it was for in the first place hundreds of years ago - rich kids.