Rather hyperbolic. The statistics quoted are accurate, but it's unfair to say that market forces aren't working. - tuition is out of control. Taxpayers bitch. Administration steps in with moderate controls on student loans. - tuition is out of control. Students can't pay it. Colleges discount 40-60% off sticker prices. - graduation rates are low. Eventually large swaths of the for-profit colleges' prospective students hear horror stories from friends, relatives and neighbors. Rates are dropping. - system is calcified. Online degree programs flourish and all universities experiment with/roll out mixed-model classes. I've linked to it before but I haven't actually recommended it: College Un-Bound is a pretty damn good book. I wholeheartedly recommend it, particularly to someone getting serious about an MBA.