>Everything else is replicated outside the walls with far less effort than the cost of university.

Except for actually holding the degree.

And yes, the 100+ person classes are the introductory classes offered in first and second year before things get whittled down to something more personal. However, they really set the tone for those first couple of years, saying "You're not in high school anymore".

Thats a very expensive wakeup call if they cost an average of $4-8k a piece (8-12 classes a year for $40-$60k per).

I'm sure the kids really appreciate the experience four years down the line when they can look back at sophomores in a real job and think "gosh, wasn't it great my first two years of college cost me 3-4 years of my post-graduate income and gave me the wonderful value for all that money of 'waking me up' to how hard college will be when I actually start getting value from it!"

I guess it depends on what vocation they are looking at post-graduation and what education is required for those positions. The experience of a software dev isn't a universal one.