I don't know if I would agree with that. The pendulum has swung at public institutions from taxes paying well over half of the cost, to well less than half. I don't think anybody cares any less...as a matter of fact, the profs I talked to while taking my son on campus tours seemed totally connected to the students. I think the cost has gone up because the taxpayers want to spend their money elsewhere, or spend less. It's a shame that kids have to mortgage their future to go to school, but that's what it's become, even for state schools. When Abraham Lincoln established land grant colleges, he wanted kids to go to school to better themselves and their families. We seem to have screwed that up by spending tax dollars elsewhere...