Another part of the problem is that there's really no such thing as a useless degree. A person may never use what they learned from that degree, but the fact that they were able to earn a degree is still used by employers as a bar to judge potential employees.
Which is a really frustrating thing. I have family members who didn't go to college who could not pursue certain careers (or, struggled to advance their careers) because they don't have piece of paper - even if it had nothing to do with the career itself. In tech it has become less of an issue but I would love to see this go away for everyone.
Being able to get a four year degree does not signal that a potential employee is better than someone that doesn't. Especially the way higher education has gone in my lifetime.
Not sure it's less of an issue in tech now. I got into the field when a degree wasn't needed (late 90's), just a pulse. Now it would be hard to get an entry level job without one, at least at my company.
Another part of the problem is that there's really no such thing as a useless degree. A person may never use what they learned from that degree, but the fact that they were able to earn a degree is still used by employers as a bar to judge potential employees.