The tuition has increased as the costs have been shifted from the state tax revenue (public funding) to the students.

I almost wonder if this might be part of the reason for the rising costs. Since there is no option to escape from college debt free these days, the difference in costs appears minimal, as it comes down to a small monthly difference in a far-off student loan payment. I'll bet this makes students much less likely to protest tuition increases, as it is all essentially far-off funny money, and doesn't impact their bottom line.

I remember participating in massive protests of a new (small) bus fee when I was in school. The fee was imposed in contradiction to a promise of free inter-campus transport made when a second campus was built 20 years prior. I doubt such a small fee increase would result in such massive protests these days. For me, that fee was the difference between ramen and real food for a few weeks.

I guess that's the question I don't have the answer for. Was the OP's education largely subsidized by the government or have other things like increased demand combined with easily obtained student loans driven up the cost?

The beginning of the submitted article supports drewg123's conclusion:

"We find that declining state appropriations for higher education is indeed the primary driver of rising tuition, responsible for 79 percent of tuition hikes at public research universities [11] between 2001 and 2011 [12] and 78 percent of tuition hikes at public master’s and bachelor’s universities over the same decade. Increased spending on administration accounts for another 6 percent and 5 percent, respectively, at the two categories of institutions, and increased grant and loan aid has had a negligible effect, at most. Finally, the purported construction boom’s impact on tuition has been minimal as well, as we estimate spending on construction has accounted for 6 percent of tuition increases at both research and master’s/bachelor’s universities."

I agree. The universities shouldn't be wildly raising their tuition & fees annually.

And they do that because Gov't is willing to give people who have never had a job, no credit, who can't even rent a car, multiple annual loans for $35,000 Absolutely ridiculous, predatory and anti-capitalist.