I do believe it really is this simple. I don't buy a $47 carton of eggs because it's just not worth it.
People do the math and think, "I don't want to spend $40,000 on this. I can get a decent job without spending that, and then I can buy a car, too."
Politically and economically, it's incredibly dangerous for universities to keep going down this path. When the common citizen finds low value in a particularly expensive-to-run government institution, they elect lawmakers who dispose of those institutions.
As a society, we need to highly value widely-obtainable post-secondary education, from the citizens to the President. Or we're doomed.
People do the math and think, "I don't want to spend $40,000 on this. I can get a decent job without spending that, and then I can buy a car, too."
Politically and economically, it's incredibly dangerous for universities to keep going down this path. When the common citizen finds low value in a particularly expensive-to-run government institution, they elect lawmakers who dispose of those institutions.
As a society, we need to highly value widely-obtainable post-secondary education, from the citizens to the President. Or we're doomed.