[raybbr]

...when the largest group of high school seniors in the nation’s history, 3.2 million, are to graduate.

32 million times an average $10k/year=32 billion dollars. It's all about money.

[Richard Kimball]

State colleges also receive money from the state, so their income is roughly 2X tuition. Schools like Harvard have such large endowment funds that at this time, they could allow every student to attend for free, and still turn a profit.

Most of the colleges I've seen are very wasteful with their money. Stanford, for instance, caught a lot of flak for buying a $10,000 antique toilet. College presidents spending hundreds of thousands of college dollars to redecorate their personal houses have also become epidemic.

Community colleges and lesser known public colleges are probably the best deal if you're looking for an education. Colleges like Harvard and Yale are best for making connections with the big money people. Texas A&M has in incredibly active alumni group, and Aggies are notorious for preferring to do business with and hire each other.

In most instances, the college degree is only a ticket punch. Many businesses now require one simply as a schmuk strainer. They don't really care where you got one.