The problem with the government regulation solution is that the universities will be motivated to get their people into the position of being regulators, so tha

The problem with the government regulation solution is that the universities will be motivated to get their people into the position of being regulators, so that they can have the government guarantee them as much money as possible. A much simpler solution is to say that every year the most expensive 10% of schools are denied federal loans, with a sliding cap on loans over the next 30% down to unlimited loans to 60% of schools. Students will have access to loans based on the status of the school when the student started. And let students know what that status will be before the school is chosen. Create a market incentive to deliver school more cheaply than its competitors, and see how long it takes them to figure out what a doable price point is.