How Government Endangers Independent Education  By Gary Wolfram
October 14, 1997  Sherlock Holmes opined that the vast majority
of us look but do not observe. We would do well to observe what
is happening to our higher education system. Our state and
federal policymakers have looked at our vast public college and
university system but have seen only that the number of students
enrolled in higher education has increased substantially. They
have not observed the damage that has been done to our
independent colleges and universities.  At the beginning of this
century 4 of 5 students enrolled in higher education in the
United States were enrolled in private colleges or universities.
By mid-century enrollment was split about evenly between public
and private institutions of higher education. Today 4 of 5
college students are enrolled in public institutions.  That
shift has occurred because taxpayers have heavily subsidized
public colleges and universities. State government provides
nearly 40 percent of the current