Government lending and a lack of price controls are the ultimate root cause. The government extends near-unlimited credit to student borrowers that goes way beyond their credit-worthiness, academic performance, graduation rates for the school, prospects for employment based on field of study, etc. And universities have clued into the fact that students who can pay any price, will pay any price. The ceiling of what students will pay, if they have sufficient access to credit, to join or maintain their status in the middle class is very very high. So universities hike the price year after year with little resistance because the availability of government borrowing takes the sting out and shifts the pain years or decades into the future of those students' lives.

I think some major force is needed to counter-act the runaway price growth without cutting off borrowing for students from low-income families. I think university prices should be capped by law at the inflation rate.

Think rent control for tuition.