This is absolutely correct. For public universities, the amount of state funding hasn't kept up with the increase in the number of students. While tuition at

This is absolutely correct. For public universities, the amount of state funding hasn't kept up with the increase in the number of students. While tuition at private institutions have also gone up, so has the amount of financial aid (scholarships) that they've made available: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/college-prices-arent-skyrocketing-but-theyre-still-too-high-for-some/ https://www.brookings.edu/articles/college-prices-arent-skyr... The result is that the net price hasn't increased all that much for the average student.