The purpose of this chapter is to shed light on the ontological assumptions that underlie the idea of a contract in Academic Capitalism. Far from being “simply a metaphor”, there are now concrete examples of real contracts in Swedish universities, which we here designate “academic contracts”. In investigating the perceived function of academic contracts, we will try to answer this fundamental question: For which problem, in what conception, is signing a contract between a student and an academic teacher a solution? By analysing four existing academic contracts from Swedish universities through the lens of a very influential economic theory of the nature and function of contracts, New Institutional Economics (NIE), we will argue that the implementation of academic contracts is totally at odds with the Humboldtian tradition and the classic university. Our contention is that the introduction of academic contracts does not facilitate, but rather undermines, the academic teaching and learning process.