Here is how unbundling the American university would work.

When students are accepted to any university, they would henceforth have a choice between (at least) two prices. The first price—let’s call it the White Lotus option—would offer the bundled service which they currently need to purchase in order to enroll. On top of access to their academic coursework, it would provide them with a room in a dorm, with a meal plan, with access to the university gym, and with all of the other amenities to which college students have become accustomed.

The second price—let’s call it the I’m Here to Learn option—would be based solely on the cost of providing a stellar education. It would allow students to complete their undergraduate education, including access to lectures and seminars and laboratories, but exclude the other amenities which have come to be such a big part of the university experience. Students would themselves be responsible for securing housing, for feeding themselves, and for figuring out their leisure activities.

Are colleges, as nearly all of them claim, actually serious about making their institutions “financially accessible,” about catering to a “diverse set of needs,” and about creating greater “ideological diversity”? Well, here’s the logical first step towards realizing all of these goals.