A college degree without a plan (e.g. graduate school, professional school, getting a degree in something like nursing or engineering that you can get a good tangible job with, etc.) is a waste of time and money in 2026. It can still be useful in many circumstances, but the days of it mattering in and of itself are clearly over. And the cost of "finding yourself" given that real professors hardly ever actually teach anymore is really, really hard to justify.
So.. I think this depends on a few things. Kind of like the saying, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." The value of the college education is different for a lot of people. And I'm not talking about lawyers and doctors and countless other professions. Some professions really need a bunch of education after high school. And, like I said, I'm an engineer. I wouldn't hire some guy to build me a tower who didn't go to college for this. But for what I do.... so my old boss and mentor for 20+ years didn't graduate from college. He didn't need to. He got a job and worked his way up. Then, somewhere along the way, the managers decided that new hires needed college education. So they got me. And the most difficult thing I did for 5 years or more was V=IR. And it hasn't gotten much more complicated than that since. What value is there in having an engineering degree, when the guy with the engineering degree is asking the guy without one for help and advice?
Then, when they decided to clean house, they kept those of us with degrees and got rid of a lot of people without them. So there's the value of it - the people signing the pay checks think someone with a degree is better than someone without one.
On top of that, I've got the top certifications in my field. Great. But that just means that I can pass a test. It doesn't mean I shouldn't listen to nerds with lower (or no) certifications.
And on top of that, I have PE licenses in a shitload of states. I'm the smartestest person ever, right? Pfft. But they keep giving me money based on that kind of thing, so it's good to me.
But to actually do what I do, take your high school physics class, learn how to use Microsoft Word and Excel. Maybe some Powerpoint. Learn to write the date on the top of every single one of your data sheets. And that's about it.