>It seemed to me like the government subsidizing the market in stark contrast to unfettered capitalistic principles is the root of the issue.

My opinion was apparently unpopular, but I'm not claiming that the government is the cause of the problem. Instead I'm claiming that the government's noble effort is subverted by the fact that the schools care about maximizing immediate profits more than altruistic goals like building healthy strong societies. The cause of skyrocketing costs is, in my opinion, the simple fact that the schools seek to maximize their revenue and since there's no government-sponsored damping (as that would go against capitalist principles) we get a feedback loop as the government tries to educate its populace.