My perspective on the value dwindling comes from several graduate degrees and teaching at some of these 'prestigious' universities in the northeast.
It is of course just my singular experience, but the handful of research institutions I have worked at actually provided more of a typical 'academic' atmosphere than the universities, unfortunately. I still really want to believe that universities provide the most innovative research environment, but the incentive and operational structures don't really make it as optimal.
The reason I mention the new generation viewing its value as dwindling is that the cost isn't really 'worth it' and many of the best educational resources are actually free online now.
I'm an academic, so the fact that the investment doesn't pay off doesn't really bother me (academics typically don't care about money), but many people do want some financial advantage from education, and that isn't as present anymore.
I’m very much pro-education, and think that US high school should include the first two years of a current university education (grades should be roughly split between D, C, B and A, where D means “meets curriculum requirements”).
After that, I don’t think many people should go to a university. Instead, the state should provide up to 10 years of vocational education (splittable and redeemable at any point in life) or 8 years of university education (subject to a B or better average in high school).
Most vocational programs would be under 3 years, so you’d get three-four cracks at finding the right profession for you.
University track would be targeted at educators, researchers and entrepreneurs.
I think this would be better for every socioeconomic demographic in the US, and also help alleviate the housing shortage, enable modern manufacturing, fix many current issues with healthcare, and so on.)
