Academia is not a waste of time just because it doesn't translate into "productivity" and wealth. Some people enjoy the pursuit of knowledge, and find great meaning in it.

Increasingly the arts are being defunded based on a similar argument, and humanity as a whole is worse off because of it.

There is a real conflict here. People are getting loans for their education. A loan is an investment, and should only be taken if it will pay off.

If you are getting education because you are interested in the topic but won't get a job in it: I fully support this. However you should not take a loan out to get this education: there are too many other things to do in life that you also will want to do. Worse the loan means you cannot change your mind later if you are wrong (or you can, but you will still have to pay for the mistake instead of whatever you are interested in today).

There is one other reason for education: to become a better citizen (don't fall for bad politics). However that should be to everybody and I haven't seen much evidence that higher education really helps much.

While I agree with you, I also have to acknowledge the absurdity of some schools having kids define their own crazy undergrad majors, while plunging them into large amounts of debt. They should at least have to sign a waiver that says, "I acknowledge that this degree will likely not be a good investment".

He did not seem to enjoy it or find meaning in it.

Something could be valuable despite being "useless" but not in this case.

Yeeees, but .. now is very much a time when you're going to have to justify that investment to the funding system and the broader public. I generally agree with the "pursuit of knowledge" framing, but there's a big advocacy gap.

Why do we need artists anymore? I can just ChatGPT to draw me pretty pictures if I want.