How many people reading this right now make a very good living writing software without a “computer science degree from a top 25 university”? To what extent are those degrees also just for sorting?
A serious university comp sci program teaches you a lot. This is part of the difference between programmer and software engineer. Going to college allows you to gain advanced kmowledge and ideally do reseach of your own.
A philosophy education teaches a lot too. The discussion here is about what markets value and why that matters and why it doesn’t. I think trying to align education with private gain is the wrong approach. Society should promote human flourishing, not just numbers on a bank statement.
Ok, so who's going to pay the philosophy major? He's not necessarily worth that much. On the other hand, he's worth a lot of he learns something more practical. What would you classify as human flourishing? I think humans have flourished because of advancements in digital technology. Also, "society" is not a concrete individual that can do valuing. Again, who's going to pay a philosophy major?