I feel like it's a bit of a Pandora's box. Once the student loan box got opened and administrators began to realize the incentives at play (for the lenders, e.g

I feel like it's a bit of a Pandora's box. Once the student loan box got opened and administrators began to realize the incentives at play (for the lenders, e.g. most student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy), they saw dollar signs. It's easy to justify tuition hikes when you know most of your students are already taking out loans which they'll basically always get. And since each student is usually only there for about four years, the increases while they're there don't seem significant because their frame of reference is so small. And even if they do realize the highway robbery taking place, what are they gonna do, transfer half their credits to somewhere cheaper and spend even more time in school to finish their degree?