Berani dalam Benar - EduCASHtion?
"Have our public universities reached a stage where money takes precedence? How can a student be offered a place if he pays RM83,800, but then be rejected under the UPUonline system?"
This question reportedly was asked by a government lawmaker recently. It is long overdue! The first part of the question has been the case since "education" is regarded as a "commodity" to be sold to the highest bidder.
It is not only in Malaysia but all over the world, including among the wealthiest so-called "world-class" institutions. We subscribed to this notion when we send our students to study there at all cost. Being a foreign student, the fees are exorbitant compared to what the local pays. In other words, it is a form of "revenue" to be gained by the host country, no different from selling other economic goods that they promote elsewhere like military wares, often have their own twist and turn. A good case in point is when the Agong (King) recently was reported ordered to scrap a Black Hawk helicopter deal. Citing that they are decades out-of-date, calling them “flying coffins.”
Today's education may not fit tightly into such a metaphor but it is close enough as it is all about economics, in fact brutally so when it is said to be WEIRD - westernised, economic-centric, industrial-led, reputation-obsessed, and thus dehumanising! So much so it has coloured our ecosystem without realising that we are embracing it too.
The remaining half of the question defines the WEIRD acronym as explained above. Yes, indeed: "How can a student be offered a place if he pays RM83,800, but then be rejected under the UPUonline system?” 'Economic-centric"? " "Industrial-led"? Furthermore, the person implicated is a Malaysian, not a foreigner, who is very deserving! "Dehumanising"? 
Even if he is a non-Malaysian - it is still dehumanising!
More so in assuming a one-size-fits-all model as a justification in several parts of the world causing education to be distorted!
Added on to this, are allegations of how unprepared (unqualified) many of the foreign students who got enrolled, particularly in their command of the English language, in exchange for paying exorbitant fees to get acceptance. This is unlike previously where the passing English competency test is a must before one could set foot on our campuses. WEIRD!
They are deemed as new "cash" cows of late, taken in in relatively large numbers! The ramifications of education as public good is unimaginable! Mostly towards negative scenarios since the ethos of a university has been violated to the very core! University of tomorrow cannot be conceived as a private good like a for-profit enterprise as the tendency is today.
Thus, focusing on the economic value (read, technology) alone as a form of livelihood can be misleading, if life is not given due emphasis in a balanced and harmonious way, holistically. After all, not everything is open to the highest bidder as the pandemic bitterly reminded us. Notably education as the leveller of society, bringing us back to the very question that we started off with where education is fast replaced by “eduCASHtion.”
It always seems impossible until it is done Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)