Look at how incoming freshman classes at public universities have grown and grown even quicker than their ability to provide housing for them. I doubt many are strapped for cash (could be wrong though). The least that these “businesses” could do is offer the sort of tuition cuts mentioned above.

Dupe, you’re (or I hope you are) right on the “follow the leader” claim. It may take a few years for this to become the norm, but if popular enough it will trickle down to public schools.

You may be stretching it on the contagiousness of learning. I don’t think it’s money that is hindering people from applying to college. Our culture is well accustomed to DEBT. Many think nothing of debt as if it were a natural part of existence. The problem lies in kids’ minds and the conception of college as “something for someone else” or “somewhere I couldn’t get into.” If college was more accessible, then more people would take advantage of it or at least keep it as an option.

Take for instance, financial aid. Understanding these forms, procedures, and terms are extremely difficult even for the most hardened bureaucrat. This is just one of the many boundaries that probibit people from attending college.