This is not how universities work. Remember, they're not for profit, so reducing costs means nothing unless your budget is slashed. Universities make money on

This is not how universities work. Remember, they're not for profit, so reducing costs means nothing unless your budget is slashed. Universities make money on grants, what is called the "overhead" -- it ranges from 40% to even more of all grant money received. In such an environment, it makes sense to charge as much as possible for the research. That's is exactly what most class A universities do. And that is why the true stars of any university are the departments that charge more for their research. E.g., if you have professors that can justify building a hugely expensive particle physics' lab, that is a big point for you.