1. What class is this in? For multiple choice questions and math/science problems, "correctness" counts. For an essay in Literature, "correctness" means nothing. You can be correct, but still have below par writing, which the professor has every right to fail.

2. "College doesn't care"? Of course they care! If they have low graduation rates, who's going to attend those colleges? Then again, I suppose that depends on the college. Many colleges are extremely invested in their students, while others don't give a damn. I'm sorry that you ended up in the latter.

3. At some colleges, the classes you take your first two years are nothing more than remedial high school courses. In this case, it is certainly a waste of time. On the other hand, some freshman and sophomore year courses are designed to introduce students to new concepts they'll use in more advanced classes, so they do need to take those courses to be successful in later years. "College is designed this way to make moire students drop out, when they drop out they will make space for more freshmen which = more money!" That makes absolutely no sense. One student dropping out –> one student entering. The tuition remains the same. If both receive the same amount of aid, how could the college earn more?

4. Well, of course you can. It's called cheating. And that kind of cheating gets caught. Universities are not that dumb.

Degrees are certainly overrated for those who are more suited for trade schools. Other students, however, are more suited for academics, so it's a path they choose to take. A degree from trade schools and colleges/universities both provide for opportunities
Many people do "take one year off" — it's called a gap year, and they're becoming more popular in this decade. As long as you do something productive during that time, there's nothing wrong with that!

"Start your own business, then consider college" — No one says this because it's ridiculous advice. First of all, a majority of people do not have the ability to run their own company. It would be an absolute waste of money to invest in a failing company, and then rack up more debt to attend college after. It would be far more sensible to gain knowledge in college, and then have a better chance of success in running a business afterwards. In this way, even if your business fails, you still have a degree to fall back on.

I do agree that people need to learn more about the different non-college paths they can take. Again, not everyone is suited for college, and would be better off using their skills in trade schools, etc. Unfortunately, most non-menial, non-restaurant jobs require some time of degree nowadays, so people are just rushing to get them — no one wants to work in a position "below" them.

You need to be a employee before you can be a good employer. It hardly ever works the other way around. Encouraging something like that is far too unrealistic for the majority of the population.