People naturally expect to be paid for their work. However, the overhead costs of universities could be significantly reduced through online delivery—no physical infrastructure, and lectures can be reused at scale through recorded video. That said, no system can operate at scale without funding. Even Wikipedia, often cited as a “free” model, relies on donations and faces ongoing financial pressure. Truly free systems tend to degrade over time if they lack stable compensation structures. A more viable distinction is this: knowledge acquisition can be free, but verification cannot. In other words, learning materials may be openly accessible—“here are the resources, study independently”—but formal assessment, certification, and accreditation require payment. This model already exists in practice. In Japan, for example, the Japanese Language Proficiency Test does not concern itself with how you learned the language; it simply evaluates whether you meet a given standard, for a fee. A similar structure applies in law and other regulated professions when transferring credentials between countries: the emphasis is on proving competence, not documenting the learning process.