The UK's university system remains better than the US system in one way: the payments made by graduates depend on their incomes.

My main motive for going to college was fascination for learning. I hardly thought about making money afterward; I assumed I would become a professor but I rarely thought that far ahead. It was easy in the US in the 60s and 70s to follow an artistic or scholarly fascination and let income take care of itself, because the US still allowed most people a share in its income.

We should not blame today's students for giving high priority to their careers after they graduate, but the fact that they do so is a disadvantage for society. It will change when we get rid of plutocracy.