You are correct. He is speaking about the liberal arts and social sciences that are so in vogue.Then you are taking the wrong classes.
There are plenty of programs you can study that will directly get you into a real world job. Engineering, biomedical technology come to mind but that may be because those are things my daughter is centering on and neither require advanced degrees to get you a good paying job. But both will also get you into grad school if you want for even better jobs. 4 year undergraduate degrees in advanced math, physics and chemistry will also get you research jobs, actuary jobs, etc.
What doesn't get enough hype are vocational skills like welding and being a machinist. Those have been downplayed and they are critical skills that our nation is lacking.
I am perfectly content making ~$75k doing what I am doing, school is for my own enlightment. I feel sorry for the kids in the LASS thinking their going to make a good life with a degree in comparative literature or basketweaving or whatever.