I'm in the UK and went through tertiary education (Degree and Masters) at the point where we were switching towards the US model. I never paid for the education

I'm in the UK and went through tertiary education (Degree and Masters) at the point where we were switching towards the US model. I never paid for the education itself, but never received any funding to pay for my existence over those years. I was fortunate to have parents who could support me into my mid-twenties. The system has changed since. We've got people racking up debts they're never going to pay off for useless degrees (in UK there's threshold of income before you have to repay, and if you never reach it, it's written off). We've also got companies that used to recruit 'good' graduates (IT/accountancy behemoths) recruiting at school-exit age and offering a career to the good encumbered with debt. My takeaway thought is that tertiary education is no longer worthwhile for the sake of education. We're becoming much more utilitarian. Short term it makes sense, but long-term seems insane to not invest in people.