The decision makers are bureaucrats but "the people who pay" is the government, through grants and as underwriters of student loans, and parents through tuition

The decision makers are bureaucrats but "the people who pay" is the government, through grants and as underwriters of student loans, and parents through tuition. And then, the product "sold" in return to students/parents is not mainly education ("learning things") but instead something like a "trademark of eligibility" for employment into jobs where competence doesn't measurably affect performance anyway.