[terry1156]

There is a big difference in what a college costs and what students actually pay. That is not to say that it's cheap, but prices quoted are often misleading. <A HREF="http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/28/pf/college/cost/index.htm">Money.com</A> has a good article on this. It doesn't address your goverment question exactly, but may be of interest.