Spending gold to make your holdings better, and training workers into the skills a job requires.
The University does two different things: it improves what your holdings can do, and it qualifies people to work.
Research
A research programme costs gold and takes time. When it completes it grants a technology whose effect is real and permanent — production seams read it, so a finished programme actually changes what a shift yields or what an upgrade costs. Some programmes require others first.
Training
Some work requires a qualified worker. Tuition is paid to the university and grants an expertise tier, and that tier is what lets you take shifts that demand a skill. A worker who is not qualified is refused at hiring — and the refusal names the training that would fix it, rather than leaving you to guess.
Where the gold goes
Research gold leaves the economy — it is one of the world's drains, and it exists so that wealth has somewhere to go besides accumulating forever. Tuition is different: it moves to the university, which is somebody's company.