The college/university industry is self-perpetuating, like many other industries. A typical example...
A 6-month vocational course training people in some specific in-demand skill is started at a college/technical institute, partly funded by some big company, and everyone who graduates gets a job. A bottleneck is created at the admission stage as applications soar, and only some get selected. A year or two later, the course is converted into a one-year program, teaching/admin staff numbers increased, and the original staff rise up the ladder. The course is then converted to a two-year program, the curriculum generalized to include other related skills, and enrollments for each year increased. When the student loan system recognizes the course as eligible for loans, the fees go up. When the course becomes a 3 or 4 year diploma or degree, enrollments have gone up so much the bottleneck is now at the job-seeking or internship-seeking stage and the original program creators are attending frequent overseas conferences.
A 6-month vocational course training people in some specific in-demand skill is started at a college/technical institute, partly funded by some big company, and everyone who graduates gets a job. A bottleneck is created at the admission stage as applications soar, and only some get selected. A year or two later, the course is converted into a one-year program, teaching/admin staff numbers increased, and the original staff rise up the ladder. The course is then converted to a two-year program, the curriculum generalized to include other related skills, and enrollments for each year increased. When the student loan system recognizes the course as eligible for loans, the fees go up. When the course becomes a 3 or 4 year diploma or degree, enrollments have gone up so much the bottleneck is now at the job-seeking or internship-seeking stage and the original program creators are attending frequent overseas conferences.