unironically yes? if a job "requires" a BA/BS, but realistically could be done by the median highschool graduate, that's four years off the person's life for no real reason.

of course, there are other benefits of higher education. but credential creep itself is a signal of waste, not progress.

When those standards cost resources to acquire and maintain without providing a return?

Yes, absolutely that's harmful for humanity in general

The return is a more educated populace, what's harmful for humanity in general is thinking about everything in monetary terms

I think the implication is that a college degree no longer represents progress.

Did it ever represent progress? What I was saying is that the increased baseline of education for the populace is progress, not that a degree represents progress itself

Humanity is obviously a strong-link system.