It began after WWII with the well-intended GI Bill of Rights, which in part granted tuition and housing $ to veterans, "democratizing" higher ed, but not yet compromising admissions criteria.
Around 1980, higher ed changed from the monastic to the "corporate" model--colleges catering to students as if they are consuming an education like any other commodity by constructing posh student activities facilities and housing, providing the consumer advocate service of "evaluating instructor effectiveness," and, of course, lowering admissions standards to allow entry of dumbasses who've been told all their lives that only losers don't attend college.
All this is on top of the affirmative action fiasco that lowered standards even further in pursuit of "Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity."
It began after WWII with the well-intended GI Bill of Rights, which in part granted tuition and housing $ to veterans, "democratizing" higher ed, but not yet compromising admissions criteria.
Around 1980, higher ed changed from the monastic to the "corporate" model--colleges catering to students as if they are consuming an education like any other commodity by constructing posh student activities facilities and housing, providing the consumer advocate service of "evaluating instructor effectiveness," and, of course, lowering admissions standards to allow entry of dumbasses who've been told all their lives that only losers don't attend college.
All this is on top of the affirmative action fiasco that lowered standards even further in pursuit of "Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity."