I've been out of university for a couple of decades now, but I will admit that the "business model" was bothersome even in my time. That is especially true since it is more important to the success of a person than that diamond ring is to the success of a marriage or the viewing of a movie in theatres is to an individual's enjoyment of life.

At least with your two examples of businesses preying upon the vulnerabilities of people, those vulnerabilities are entirely optional. People can, and do, choose other ways of expressing their commitment to their partners. People can, and do, find simpler (and non-commercial) ways to find pleasure in life.

That said, I also think that people have to step back and look at what they hope to gain from their post-secondary education. Let's face it, universities are institutions that largely prepare people to work in institutions (may they be academic or business). For example: you don't need to go to university to become a scientist, but you do to work as a scientist in a university and many businesses. Granted, there are exceptions to that. Your chances of becoming a medical doctor are pretty much nil without attending university.