I know someone who runs a beauty/barber/massage school, and I was shocked to learn that annual tuition is more than a year at a public university.
The tuition at the public university is subsidized heavily by the state. For instance land, buildings and specialized spaces are rent-free to the public university, and they pay no property taxes. The beauty/barber/massage school has to pay all these things, and fill out massive amounts of paperwork. Plus, many states subsidize the university operating expenses.