Cost is a factor, but you also have to consider that the title in our open positions says “Software Engineer” not “Computer Scientist”. Software Engineers use industry-standard tools to build best practice stacks that conform to an individual company's way of delivering software to their users. When we need them, scientists require a Ph.D. in a particular discipline (primarily in the area of statistics and linear algebra). The mission of the university is advancement in the field of Computer Science. One could argue that the University will never achieve its mission by devolving into a credentialing service that demonstrates a cursory understanding of basic CS with abysmal knowledge retention. One could also argue Universities will never deliver qualified Software Engineers due to the rapid pace of innovation in industry tools and training. These two missions are antithetical to one another. This all points to systemic issues that underlie the foundations of current employment pipelines, which are about to collapse. This is, of course, debatable. At a practical level, you are probably right. But if you think about why the cost of education is so high, you have to consider that entire industries have replaced the IQ test with a four-year degree, which has real-world economic impacts on the cost of goods and services. In this case, the cost of education.