Now you're going the other direction. People used to pay for all of their education from part-time work; costs have gone up, and even $30K is a lot for a degree. I'm very lucky in that I could pay that off quickly, but I know many people who graduated with under $50K in debt who will literally take a decade to pay it off.

And I wouldn't dismiss "silly clubs" or sports teams in terms of turning out well-rounded individuals, which is the entire point of a university to begin with.