They are unusually expensive. Here in Sweden university education costs less per head than highschool education (we of course pay for research separately). In

They are unusually expensive. Here in Sweden university education costs less per head than highschool education (we of course pay for research separately). In Russia there's even one university, the Independent University of Moscow, which is just a bunch of mathematicians who give courses. University education can be made into something really hardcore but simultaneously incredibly cheap. For example, I think the IUM has exactly zero administrators.