[prawn]

I wonder if AI or something else changing (developing anxiety, etc) has made the pay-off of the degree less certain. If you're confident that your years of effort will pay off, it's probably easier to see it through. If you're worried that AI will wreck your industry before you hit the workforce, maybe the equation changes and you're more inclined to gamble with shortcuts?

[jeremyjh]

Yes, and this is going to hurt everyone. If everyone knows that you can skate through a college degree without doing any work, it is not going to have much value as a credential.