I'm not saying that the research universities aren't performing according to plan. Only that the plan was never focused on helping the undergraduates learn.
I'd say the plan was focused on helping students to learn. It was not focused on teaching students with no intrinsic motivation to learn.
When I was a student in Finland, there were still remnants of the old system left. In that system, it was the student's responsibility to learn. The university provided opportunities and supported the student to the extent its resources allowed. The curriculum was centered around exams, which the student was expected to pass even when the corresponding classes were not offered. There was no expectation that everyone should graduate. It was ok to drop out if you could not find the motivation to study and pass the exams.
That was a good system for some and bad for others. And it was a poor fit to the new era, where the universities were repurposed to teach the masses skills that were supposed to be relevant in the job market.
When I was a student in Finland, there were still remnants of the old system left. In that system, it was the student's responsibility to learn. The university provided opportunities and supported the student to the extent its resources allowed. The curriculum was centered around exams, which the student was expected to pass even when the corresponding classes were not offered. There was no expectation that everyone should graduate. It was ok to drop out if you could not find the motivation to study and pass the exams.
That was a good system for some and bad for others. And it was a poor fit to the new era, where the universities were repurposed to teach the masses skills that were supposed to be relevant in the job market.