This paper reviews the recent turn toward a capitalist approach to higher education with specific reference to the social, demographic, and legislative changes, including growing academic capitalism, which led to a transformation in Israel's higher education system. In an empirical comparative case study of students from Israel and Russia, this study explores students' assessments of profit and utility of an academic education and its value in the respective local job markets. Findings confirm that students have adopted a capitalist approach to academic degrees, to which universities and colleges have responded by incorporating major changes and effectively instituting a paradigmatic shift in the roles and mission of higher education.