I have heard this argument many times and happen to think it is a false argument.
Universities (in the US) are not what they used to be. They are not culturally open. They have become dangerous monoculture indoctrination centers. STEM degrees, due to their nature, are not impacted as hard as are others. People in other non-STEM paths are in full-on monoculture indoctrination programs, even if not explicitly stated.
What isn't fair is for people to attend university in the US, graduate with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and not end-up with at least two things: Marketable skills that are competitive with anyone from other countries and, well, culture.
It just so happens that I attended both high school and university abroad and in the US. My family moved about due to business when I was in school. I have perspective to offer from the UK, US and Argentina.
I can tell you, without a shadow of a doubt, that US education has been an unmitigated disaster for DECADES. The problem with this is that, even if changes were to be made today, it will also take decades for the results to surface.
I am an immigrant in the US. I graduated from high school with a far deeper and broader cultural foundation than I would say most college graduates in the US. This is no joke. And this is why, if I were to use a nasty generalization, Americans are regarded as dumb and ignorant outside of the US. Of course, this isn't absolutely fair, it's a stereotype, and stereotypes do not apply to the entire population. However, there are measurable elements of this. Our schools are broken, from the bottom up.
We have a country where people graduate from university actually believing that communism and socialism are good things. This sounds so fucking stupid to immigrants who have actually lived in these regimes that I cannot even begin to describe it. It is surreal to see how the US has allowed this to happen.
To go back to what you said: "Expecting hands on skills from a degree isn't fair"
No my friend, what isn't fair is to graduate with $100K to $300K in debt and have that degree be so dubious that you have to endure five technical interviews before someone considers hiring you. And, in addition to that, the jobs you could have had go to H1B's because companies can make a case that you are not adequate for the job.
We should not make our children pay for substandard education. That is not fair.
My solution is simple: Stop pretending that we are teaching real culture and fire all the ideological assholes from these universities. Nobody should be forced to pay one single cent for this crap.
Teaching should be a meritocracy. Our schools are filled with "teachers" and "professors" that are worse than YouTube tutorial authors. Why are we making our children pay for mediocrity and incompetence.
I remember one of my kids having a science teacher in middle school who actually taught his classes that the moon does not rotate about its axis. And that was not the only incredibly ignorant thing he taught. I went to war and tried to get him fired. He had no business teaching science at all. He was a Chiropractor who got his teaching credentials and they gave him the science spot because he had "Dr." in his name. Well, I could not get him hired. The union protected him. Jokes on me, he retired after 30 years on the job with full pension and healthcare benefits for life. Who knows how many kids he ruined through his "teachings".
Teachers should be paid very well and held to a very high standard.
In university STEM fields, teach STEM and only STEM. Graduate people with world class skills. Reduce the cost by eliminating that 25% of coursework that no employer cares about. If a student chooses to study non STEM subjects, sure, be my guest, they can pay for them and there are no loan guarantees for the universities (which will lower their cost). Critically, they should not be conditions for graduation.
We can pretend US colleges are about culture all we want. However, the evidence in the real world is that they do a shit job across the board and change is badly needed.