After teaching at the same university for 29 years, I can tell you what made annual tuition go from $1800 to $12,500 during that time:
1) Teacher workloads reduced from 12 credit hours per semester to 9. That resulted in:
2) Hiring more teachers
3) A merit system which made it far too easy for profs to earn generous pay increases annually
4) The hiring of lots of administrative staff
5) Union rules which inflated the cost of everything on campus ($180 to change a fluorescent ceiling light in a classroom, or not allowing janitors to use a plunger on a toilet and charging $210 for a union plumber to come over with a plunger)
6) Wasting money on “woke” departments like Gender Studies, Afro Studies or Philosophy that had fewer than 10 majors.
I’m glad I’m retired.
Plus, a building boom on many campuses.
You should write a book on that