College tuition inflation happened for the same reason housing price inflation happened... the feral government decided EVERYBODY should get loans, including the people who were never going to pay them back.
The easy loans meant students didn't think about the future, they just borrowed the money and the colleges could charge whatever they wanted.
That could be true for state schools.
Tuition is high at private universities because there are people who can and will pay it.
Harvard or Yale pretty much can charge whatever they want, government loans or no government loans.
Some state schools are reasonable. I attend the University of Florida and it is rather cheap. It is also a good school for certain majors.