There is a robust thesis to be made that the only value of university in the current environment is in its exclusivity (expressed as selectivity for social value + wealth). Education received is not largely relevant.
More people choosing state schools won't make the mean or median degree cheaper, it will just make state schools more expensive with lower admittance rates.
People do not know how to evaluate the quality of education. The 'real' quality of the education also doesn't matter because it is not actual ability that governs success but ability to play well the game that has arisen from elementary school through new-grad hires.
If you take out the mechanics of the game which are arbitrary you get an economy where there are far more people who are able to be educated and who have been educated for any particular field than there are jobs and success becomes a lottery. (Success is already a lottery hidden behind the game mechanics)
This is expressed in The Case Against Education, which strengthens it's argument by convincing the reader that university is really only useful as a finishing school.
Are there any more extensive writings on the game mechanics of education and successfully joining the workforce?
More people choosing state schools won't make the mean or median degree cheaper, it will just make state schools more expensive with lower admittance rates.
People do not know how to evaluate the quality of education. The 'real' quality of the education also doesn't matter because it is not actual ability that governs success but ability to play well the game that has arisen from elementary school through new-grad hires.
If you take out the mechanics of the game which are arbitrary you get an economy where there are far more people who are able to be educated and who have been educated for any particular field than there are jobs and success becomes a lottery. (Success is already a lottery hidden behind the game mechanics)