right, the causal chain is so apparent and obvious, it's hard to see why someone would provide puzzling alternatives such as "fluff". schools can't fluff up unl

right, the causal chain is so apparent and obvious, it's hard to see why someone would provide puzzling alternatives such as "fluff". schools can't fluff up unless an unlimited money spigot appears out of the sky, as it did in the 90s. fluff is a result, a part of the end of the causal chain, not the beginning. tuition was certainly rising before that, because government assistance existed before that, but it was limited by political means until the spigot was thrown wide open in the 90s. in any market, there are broadly only two competitive strategies, cost or differentiation, and cost no longer matters when money is "free".