How much?!?

Money. It makes the world go 'round. It buys the pretty things we crave, the food we eat, and the shelter we seek. If we make not enough, we strangle every penny. I've lived at both extremes, the former causing the latter. Yet, in both, I've always had a problem spending it on myself. Especially when it comes to things that I have developed expectations on.
When I buy food, I expect it to be palatable. Clothes, I expect to be sturdy enough to last. The price I pay is rarely the true worth, as I usually try to bargain shop.
My highest expectations stem from my belief that there should be no price tag for the thing that is bugging me. Education.
Nowadays, with all the technology and ease of information transfer, learning should not be so expensive. Why did I (or in truth, mostly my parents) pay so much for a piece of paper that I have not even bothered to frame and hang? It's not guilded in gold, or carved into the ivory tusk of a mammoth. Yet for the same price, it could have been. This piece of paper was supposed to open doors and net me a higher paying job. It's done neither.
I took two classes through work, simply because I knew I would never see a bill. I tried to be more social, but my classmates found the work so hard, or their lives too busy to schedule study times. I did my work, and collected my grades. Passing them was supposed to guarantee benefits in work I have yet to see. Though it did help me in personal matters-as in contract law.
My opinion is that education should not carry the hefty price tag that it does. If you're smart enough to take the classes, you should be able to without taking out loans. The price for college should be adjusted to accomodate the minimum wage.  Or vice versa. Too often are people graduating with the hope of a large paycheck to pay off their loans, and are stuck in lower paying jobs. Or bright people who didn't get formal education, are denied advancement because of a lack of a piece of paper.
I feel like I am in a massive casino, gambling more money in hopes of a big payoff. And I partially refuse to pay the tens of thousands if they can't give me some sort of guarantee.
Yes, my expectations are high. It's not like I can return a faulty education. If they can't open the doors, why should I open my checkbook?