This is why I support caps on assets under management (AUM) for public universities. You essentially have these ostensibly education-focused institutions that are really operating as publicly owned real-estate/investment conglomerates building endowments they're unlikely to ever use. I mean look at how universities responded during covid, they didnt tap their endowments to make up for revenue shortfalls they just forced kids back to school to prop up their tenament empires despite it representing a major public health risk. Meanwhile, their educational programs are declining as the focus is less on hiring qualified faculty and more on functioning as degree mills so they can churn service related fees.

Cap AUM and make them boost their endowment spending rates to the point where they can maintain a rainy day fund while actually providing value to students. Imo thats how you bring down tuition as private universities will theoretically be forced to lower fees and increase program related spending in order to compete.