Would you rather have a Princeton diploma without a Princeton education, or a Princeton education without a Princeton diploma? If you pause to answer, you must thing signaling is pretty important. - economist Bryan Caplan

Imagine you could study physics with Einstein or playwriting with Shakespeare. But part of the deal is you could never say who you studied with or for how long.  Or, you could just have a PhD from Harvard. Which would you choose? - 1517 Fund

Although he didn't care very much about any subject for its own sake, he cared a great deal about marks [grades]. - C.S. Lewis

What, exactly, are you paying for?