It’s better to be a high school drop out in 1945 than today. To justify this shift in society you have to think that the push for higher ed for most of americas youth creates postive externalites for the country. Does it? Whats the point of college beyong signaling , which studies show are anywhere from 33% to 80% of the value of a degree? It’s a fun carefree time unless you want to get to the upper elechon. But at the same time there is benfit in grind and knowing how to solve certain problems, and maybe the only way to do that is through necessary signaling measures .
Also cool science paper https://www.mining.com/scientists-develop-cheap-and-easy-method-to-extract-lithium-from-seawater/