Telling people to "toughen up" is missing the point. The University of Chicago is built around creating Nobel prize winners (which they do a damn good job of it). But they also drive students so hard that they often fail out or just commit suicide. No joke. But they don't mind sacrificing these people because the select group that survives will shit nobel prizes. Survivor bias will tell you they are a model school, but I don't think so.
Our culture is obsessed with degrees-- not learning. Because of this the education system doesn't let teachers actually do their job. In elementary and high school it's truly unconscionable how students pass from grade to grade. By the time they get to college it's way too late. Tenured hard-ass professors are the only people who can get away with it-- but if you think you can flunk half your students and still make tenure you're delusional. Incentives are completely misaligned. Make no mistake, Education Inc. exists to further the institution, not the student.