College degrees are similar to a car. The more it costs, the better you look. But you cannot buy a "used" college degree...
Europe is even worse, they are getting master degrees to have an edge over other bachelor engineers and they compete for low paying jobs as well.
A very easy solution to the college degree arm race is to have employers not discriminate using the name of the school. Perhaps it could be a law to hide the name of the school from the résumé. The only thing that matters is the person applying for the job and his skills, not the school he went to. The name of the school could be a forbidden thing to ask, until after he is hired.
You could theoretically switch to a system where there is a standardised national exam at degree level in subjects such at computer science. Then instead of paying lots to go to a fancy college you could learn inexpensively and still get as impressive a qualification. Dunno if it's a good idea. In the UK there are standardised exams at 18 so if you get 3 As at A-level people know your bright regardless of where you went, in fact it's probably harder to do that at a rubbish school. At university level though you don't have that so a degree from Oxford is probably going to be valued more than one from Bedfordshire, say even if the grades are similar.
I like the exam idea but it's not really the best way to test the skill of a person. You wouldn't hold an exam for the best painter or the best sculptor. I feel like computer programming (and related jobs) in general is similar.
If you watch the TV show Better Call Saul (strongly recommend), you see him in the last episode learning that his own lawyer brother doesn't want him working at the same firm because he did an online law school, instead of going to a prestigious law school.
there is no good reason why there can't be meaningful standardised exams for post secondary education. professional bodies set exams at this level in accounting, engineering etc. it would be a much more efficient model.
