A college degree is not just a piece of paper. It certifies that you have acquired a certain skill set. The problem is that nowadays college is really overpriced and yet has a very high status to the point that everyone feels the need to get a degree, so now the labour market is oversaturated with people with higher education degrees, which makes the degrees lose their value in the labour market.

Although I think people tend to forget that unlike vocational education, college education is about more than acquiring job skills. College education is meant to give you general life skills: critical thinking skills, writing skills, and generally be an enriching experience that opens you up to new ideas and new perspectives.