The main problem as I see it is the dynamic that "if you pay, you pass". I've seen first hand the unwillingness to fail students who have done no work and have

The main problem as I see it is the dynamic that "if you pay, you pass". I've seen first hand the unwillingness to fail students who have done no work and have zero aptitude or willingness to learn. And that's just the lazy ones. I'm not even including the students who tried but will do poorly. They all get passed! I've only seen one person be failed, and it took several months of investigation before it happened. They didn't attend any sessions or lab project work for months, but they didn't want to kick them out because they were a rich foreign student. This clearly devalues a university education for those who do work hard and succeed. And it also devalues the institution for its lack of intellectual rigour and enforcement of strict standards. I would be more than happy for paying students to be held to strict and high standards, but having money be a big part of the equation seems to have corrupted even well regarded universities. (My perspective is from the UK universities; when the courses were completely funded by the government through local education authorities, they didn't have a problem with giving mediocre or bad students the boot, but today it's nearly impossible.)