The cost of an American college education has been sharply increasing since the end of the 1990s.  Many explanations have been given for this increase.  Colleges blame rising energy costs and building costs that colleges feel they must undergo in order to stay competitive.  Politicians blame the greed of the universities.  Regardless of who is right in this debate, it is clear the increased cost has caused Americans to rethink how they view the efficacy of a college education.
Education is the most important thing for the development of a society, but we need to rethink how we view education.   What we need to realize is that it is imperative that everyone be properly educated to perform their job.  None of my grandparents ever attended college, and they were all successful financially.  One of my grandfathers was an executive for an American insurance company.  It was never necessary for him to attend college, because he was able to learn all the skills he needed while he was working.
My other grandfather set up his own business and ran it successfully for over 30 years.  They never attended college, but I still consider them to be some of the most educated people Ive known.  They are well read in literature and the sciences.  They are always capable of giving me reasoned arguments on topics such as politics, economics, and history.  They educated themselves and ended up being better educated than most American college graduates.
This is not meant to downplay how important college education is for society.  There are certain professions in which a college education is likely the best means of preparing people for future professions.  Medical school is probably the best way to train doctors.  Engineering school is probably the best way to train engineers.  But anyone that has been around an American university knows how many people graduate with knowledge that will be completely irrelevant to their future careers.  
Someone who plans to work in management at Enterprise Rent-a-Car doesnt need to spend four years studying management and business theory.  They would be much served if they spent four years in lower positions in the company, learning the way of the business and studying management theory in their free time.  Someone who wants to in customer service for a big insurance company doesnt need to go $100,000 in debt to get a Psychology degree.  
Education is expensive, and the failure to educate is even more expensive in the flat world of today.  But we need to once and for all crush the myth that a college education is the way to educate the public.  College is the best way to prepare people for some jobs, but we need to start thinking of university as only one of many ways we can educate the public.