I think formal education is a personal vitamin and economic good with inherent diminishing returns, and one that cannot indefinitely require additional years for each societal advancement (since we do not live indefinitely).
Perhaps we should find a better way to distribute education; not just among social economic class, but by span and duration ("doses"). Otherwise we might see unnecessary educational inflation (which I think may be the case now), rather than an educational deflation.
Restricting education to what's needed for employment creates a class division between high and low education groups. Social decisions become dominated by expert language that's incomprehensible to the majority, creating conditions for a populist backlash.