It's complicated, there are a lot of factors. I agree that the government loan programs haven't helped - they've decreased students' price sensitivity. But the

It's complicated, there are a lot of factors. I agree that the government loan programs haven't helped - they've decreased students' price sensitivity. But the decreased funding for research on the backend, and decreased direct funding for public schools, have made it so that schools need to seek out funding in other ways. For example, they actively recruit full-fare foreign students now for the tuition. It has also caused tuition to rise, relegating the ability for students to pay their own way via a part time job or two to the past. EDIT: And yeah, the increased demand for a fixed supply increasing the price is what I meant by "they're not minting new Ivys". I wouldn't agree that it's a bad thing that we're educating more people to a high level, though.