Edward Dutton did a piece on this topic. After WWII jobs were very plentiful. If one wanted to work in a particular field highly likely they would get the job without much effort. My father was an accountant for a large corporation with a flimsy jr college degree. He had that job for 44 years. Impossible pulling off that feat today.

Things IMO changed in the 80's with corporate raiding and then articles in mass publications like Parade magazine on how much more you make with a degree. It wasn't false information at the time but there was this real pressure that if you didn't go to college you put shame on the family. You had to rise higher that your parents.

Eventually those jobs that didn't take much effort dried up. Unfortunately the articles on the college degree coin didn't so here we are. A bunch of paper on the wall and everyone fighting for the same small square footage on top the hill so to speak. No way to fix it other than raising college standards which everyone knows ain't happening.