I think you are deliberately missing the point of the last line. Of course free access to a wide variety of education is a good thing - no one is doubting that.
But gatekeeping recognition for that education behind a paywall ensures that we are judging students not solely on their ability, but also on the size of their wallet.
There is nothing "anti-human" about acknowledging that, in an educational era of plenty, our systems are still failing those without the means to pay.
I have nothing against acknowledging problems. That's how we fix them. What I take exception to is the sentiment embodied in that sentence.
The gatekeeping behind a paywall issue is not what I was referring to.
But since you bring it up, I don't think that the analysis is so simple.
For one, I agree that there has been an over-inflation in the cost of universities, at least in the US and the UK (less so in other countries).
This paired with the fact that such education is going down in quality, most of that money pays useless bureaucracy and committees and you cannot default on education debt is a serious issue worth considering.
On the other hand, I also think we have to consider other factors.
For one, people value more things that come with a cost. This has been shown in studies. I recommend on the topic, "Influence", by Cialdini, for example.
In fact, raising fees in the UK seems to have increased attendance (1), although data seems to be contradictory on this one (and that's why I think it's a hard problem)
Anecdotally I can also say that in my business people value more the material they pay for and are more likely to follow through. I know this to be the case for other businesses too.
We have always to pay attention to the fact that the cure might make things worse instead of better. This is often the case with this type of interventions.
For example, countries with higher gender equality actually increase gender differences instead of reducing them (2). No one expected that, but that is the result.
But gatekeeping recognition for that education behind a paywall ensures that we are judging students not solely on their ability, but also on the size of their wallet.
There is nothing "anti-human" about acknowledging that, in an educational era of plenty, our systems are still failing those without the means to pay.