The Price of Knowledge: How Expensive University Degrees Fuel a Miserable Society

Once upon a time, university was free. It was a place where curiosity and creativity thrived, where young minds could explore their interests without the shackles of financial burden. Today, that utopia feels like a relic, lost to the voracious appetite of capitalism. University education, once considered a right, has now become a product—an expensive one at that. The costs associated with higher education, especially in Australia and the US, have skyrocketed over recent decades. In Australia, the average cost of a degree now sits at around $20,000 to $50,000, depending on the field of study. Meanwhile, in the US, student debt surpasses $1.7 trillion—an unfathomable sum for future generations to bear.

But let’s look beyond the cold, hard numbers. What happens to a society when access to knowledge is locked behind a paywall?

Meet a hypothetical 40-year-old. He's miserable in his job, dragging his feet to the office every day, feeling uninspired, unmotivated, and unhappy. He’d love to change careers, maybe study psychology or history, follow a long-dormant passion. But there’s a roadblock—tuition fees. Getting another degree means adding a $50,000 debt to the mountain of obligations he already carries. It's not just financial; it’s emotional, psychological. The mere thought of enrolling in another program feels like a trap, another cog in the machine. So, like millions of others, he stays. Stays in a job that eats away at his soul. Stays in a life that feels like it's shrinking.

This misery ripples outward. It affects his relationships with his partner, his children, his health. When people feel trapped, they stop dreaming, they stop engaging. They count down the days until retirement—an increasingly distant finish line that keeps inching further away. Retirement age in Australia and the US is creeping toward 70 and beyond. Can we really ask people to suffer in silence for another 30, 40, 50 years?

The personal consequences extend to societal costs. Depression, anxiety, and stress skyrocket. Relationships fall apart under the weight of financial strain and unfulfilled dreams, leading to higher rates of domestic violence and breakups. We see more people falling into the health system with stress-induced illnesses, more pressure on mental health services, and an overburdened legal system.

Expensive universities don’t just gatekeep education—they trap people in lives of quiet desperation. They rob society of innovation, creativity, and a sense of wonder about the world. When people can’t afford to retrain or shift careers, they don’t explore their potential. They remain stuck in a narrow lane, often in industries they loathe, squandering the skills and passions that could have been used to build better communities, businesses, or systems.

And let’s not ignore the universities themselves, where Chancellors are raking in salaries akin to CEOs of massive corporations. These institutions, once bastions of knowledge and progress, are now driven by profit motives, detached from the lived realities of most students. Higher education has been commodified, just another sector of the capitalist machine.

Is there another way? Can we redefine ourselves outside the university framework? Could we, as a society, allow people to learn, explore, and shift careers without the looming threat of debt?

Right now, the answer seems bleak. Universities have marketed themselves into an unassailable position atop the pedestal of success. A degree has become not just a symbol of education, but a golden ticket to employability. Employers, too, have bought into this narrative—hesitant to hire someone without that establishment stamp of approval. It leaves little room for alternative pathways, for the curious mind who doesn’t fit the mold of a traditional student but has a wealth of experience to offer.

But perhaps it’s time we challenge this structure. We need to ask ourselves if this is the society we want to build—one where learning comes with a price tag so high that it keeps us locked in miserable jobs and stagnant lives. What if we dismantled the myth that university is the only path to success? What if we celebrated learning in all its forms—through life experiences, community projects, apprenticeships, or independent study?

In an age where information is everywhere, maybe the real cost is not just the $50,000 price tag of a degree, but the opportunity cost of a life half-lived, a society under-stimulated, and communities devoid of zest.