I don't know if the institutions where DEI has flourished need to be replaced with similarly large and static institutions. Thanks to technology, much of the information that one formerly had to physically access by going to archives is readily available online. Also, tech companies report they have to train fresh college graduates from the ground up, since what they acquired at college is already out-of-date (professors don't have to keep up with the latest innovations, especially if they have tenure). These institutions had had their enrollments bloated for decades because employers demanded unnecessary credentials, leading to many middle class kids going to college not for the learning but for the piece of paper.

We might end up with education and job training being more decentralized. Maybe someone would spend a couple of months on intensive focus on cutting edge technology instead of 4 years where 1/4 of the courses are required to be outside one's major.

Withdrawing is an option, too. There's plenty of money to be made fixing things plumbers, electricians, carpenters, etc., are in short supply, in part due to generations of parents seeing college as their kid's ticket to a bright future.