Totally fair and accurate. I had the enlightening experience of trying to explain some Higher Ed 101 stuff to some journo students recently. I ended up going back to the fact that state support is typically one of the biggest state-budget line items not considered untouchable. 1/?

Also, as someone else alluded, the fact that decades ago we Americans decided en masse that we can’t abide taxes. It’s kind of a cartoon version of the story, but that’s why the burden of supporting public colleges shifted from state support to tuition, kids.