Although I support the students (or anyone else for that matter) to go on strike and fight for whatever they are fighting for, and should accept the negative or positive result of their action with a badge of honor. My thought is the same as what you said here.
If one goes to school, they have to assume that this is an investment, not a for profit, not even for net zero. I am very glad that they get paid, but the idea that they should come out with net zero is a little strange, as investment usually means you loose something now and hope to gain something better at a later time. But I also realize that this model would produce FAR less Ph.Ds and we as a nation will lose our competitive advantage to the rest of the world, and that’s the last thing I want.