My contention, as someone with a degree in something totally unrelated to what I have done for a living, is that most people don't go to college as a trade school and that isn't what it is there for.  What you learn in college is to read, write and think at the college level.  You also make friends who read, write and think at the college level and keep some of those contacts and relationships for the rest of your life.  Spending the time to get a degree changes you in ways that make it easier to not be unemployed at 53 and if you are, to be able to find another career.  
You also meet a lot of smart women which may create its own problems but also has a lot more benefits.  What's going to happen with more women well educated than men once the men get to the point where they no longer look cool in that leather jacket?