Actually, I don't think it is off thread. A lot of people (and I must include myself here, which is why I am so insistent) just do degrees because it is expected, they don't consider not doing one. It is political, although I think that snobbery about vocational and on-the-job training compared to degrees plays a large part in that politics, but it has affected a lot of people's attitudes to their own lives. It does not always help them make the right choices.
As it happens I think I made the right choice, and I got a lot out of it, including skills I used in the work I used to do. What I didn't get is anything that significantly helped me in getting a flying job. The fact that I have a hard science degree, so am numerate, helps me in the air and made the groundschool easier to pass, but my A-levels probably gave me most ofthat and the degree was not worth the small benefit!