The issue is too many employers require college degrees for jobs that do not really need such degree due to the sheer number of candidates with college degrees. Hence college diplomas are the new high school diploma in certain cases. Does a retail manager need a college degree really? Or does a dental assistant? That one used to be on the job training. We moved to credential everything when in fact, on the job training used to perform this function.
Additionally, high schools have in most cases removed all vocational training. Automotive and wood shop cease to exist. Are they teaching Microsoft skills such as advanced excel? No. I believe AP CS still teaches about floppy disks. Our primary education system really lacks in this area. There is a critical shortages of certain high paying skills that are not gained via a BS or BA as we push everyone into college prep.