How the Government Influences the Decline in Private Universities

American's are losing their private universities despite global demand. At least, according to an article Inside Higher Edu the U.S. private education sector is 27.5% which is now much lower than other nations. As private education in the U.S. declines does government own some of the blame for this?

The total private enrollment around the world is $56.7 million which translates to 32.9% of the world's enrollment. Private education has a huge impact and is an important part of the higher education system. It provides a level of diversity and innovation for the entire system.

Private education is facing challenges where some schools are closing and others are being regulated to death. Smaller schools are having a hard time competing. Think of the private liberal arts colleges with less than 2,000 students. They are going bust despite growing demand.

There is a problem with regulation and the cost of student loans. In both cases, much of this is the government making. Unnecessary regulation damages small and private universities which don't have the economies of scale, the tax funding, and government support that larger state universities have. Likewise, at 6% interest rate on student loans the problem will continue to grow and while we need people to become "educated" to compete in a more complex world we are punishing them with costs and interest.