mildly relevant: campus life is relatively rare.

this is an excerpt from an article called "the end of the university," as found on the american interest.

more appropriately, it should be called "the end of the american university" because there is a strong focus on tuition, student debt, and the 'business' of running a university.

to wit: quite a few places in europe still have very affordable [1] university education for all citizens of the e.u. without a lot of tuition fees .. though the tide seems to be turning, especially in the u.k.

it's funny .. in the united states, they're talking about tuition-free higher education, whereas much of europe is discussing the exact opposite!

anyway, about that article ..

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To borrow an analogy from the music industry, universities have previously sold education in an “album” package—the four-year bachelor’s degree in a certain major, usually coupled with a core curriculum. The trend for the future will be more compact, targeted educational certificates and credits, which students will be able to pick and choose from to create their own academic portfolios. Take a math class from MIT, an engineering class from Purdue, perhaps with a course in environmental law from Yale..
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It’s worth noting that while the four-year residential experience is what many of us picture when we think of “college”, the residential college experience has already become an experience only a minority of the nation’s students enjoy. Adult returning students now make up a large mass of those attending university. Non-traditional students make up 40 percent of all college students. Together with commuting students, or others taking classes online, they show that the traditional residential college experience is something many students either can’t afford or don't want. The for-profit colleges, which often cater to working adult students with a combination of night and weekend classes and online coursework, have tapped into the massive demand for practical and customized education. It’s a sign of what is to come.
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[1] well, compared to private universities in the u.s., at least.  from what little i've read, the enrollment cost to a university student per semester is less than 1000€ per year in spain and france, and i think that finnish universities don't charge tuition at all ..?