Agreed with Chris and Vita--we're glad that we could pay for our kids, but it's ridiculous of you think about the cost per hour of class time. In addition to the "experience", it's two layers of subsidies. First, undergrad tuition subsidizes professors' research. The profs spend 10 or twenty hours per week teaching in exchange for full time salaries. Second, in part because the first subsidy is so damn expensive, those paying full tuition subsidize those on scholarship. (I'm not complaining that some kids are on scholarship, I think all should have equal access).
I also agree with the "lost their way" comment, but in a different sense. As the schools have cranked their prices, they have put finances front and center of too many students' and parents' decisions on where they should go to school. For most (though not all), college is the gateway to a better career. When we make it less accessible to some, we erode the American Dream.
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