---
title: Universities are becoming very expensive places to buy time, friendships
author: Giacomo Balli
published: 2026-07-15
url: https://BigBalli.com/blog/universities-are-becoming-very-expensive-places-to-buy-time-friendships
tags: Engineering, Product, Growth, Reading
---

# Universities are becoming very expensive places to buy time, friendships

*By Giacomo Balli* | *Published: July 15, 2026*

Universities are becoming very expensive places to buy time, friendships, and adulthood.

My son is in kindergarten. My nephews are in high school. Helping them explore universities has made me question what we should actually expect from four years there.

A good university should teach real disciplines deeply.

Computer science. Biology. Medicine. Engineering. Psychology. Philosophy. Design. History. Physics.

The subject matters less than whether the student becomes genuinely absorbed by it.

Once that happens, get out of the way a little.

Let the biology student disappear into some obscure question about cellular aging. Let the psychology student design an experiment nobody assigned. Let the history student spend a semester chasing one strange connection through archives.

Deep learning often starts where the syllabus ends.

That requires something universities seem increasingly uncomfortable providing: unstructured time.

Less coursework. Fewer assignments designed to prove students are learning. More room to read, build, experiment, research, argue, fail, change direction, and follow questions further than a professor planned.

The uncomfortable truth is that university may no longer deserve to be sold primarily as a launchpad for work.

Its strongest return might be harder to measure: lasting friendships, intellectual obsession, independence, and learning how to be a human around other interesting humans.

At current prices, though, that experience needs a serious rethink.

[Discuss on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7499469663219937280)

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**Tags:** Engineering, Product, Growth, Reading

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