That's not a very realistic view of things. First of all, a professor's job consists of many things, of which teaching is just one. Depending on the institution, your tuition may be a very miniscule portion of the professor's paycheck. Finally, even if they're solely a lecturer and payed entirely from tuition, what you want isn't necessarily what other students want, so unless you've hired the prof as a private tutor...
I know it's not "realistic". But it is a viewpoint as from a student. I just distilled it down to the absolute minimum I could.
I work in a staff role at an university. I see things from the students and the faculty role. I see many students who skate by, doing little and collecting the degree. I also see professors who I'm surprised still figure out how to breathe.
I also see that the university props up a great deal of failing architectures (both buildings and power structures) that would fail readily except for the 'wonderfulness' of student loans. What money they bring in now will be paid in 10 fold twenty or so years from now.
I also know that my own job is artificially propped up because of students' debt. I also reduce cost for the university, knowing that the huge monument or statue or building was funded, because the uni has easy money.
You strike on a significant point that most HN types have no idea about: the majority of most big schools that do any research (state schools, big private schools like Ivies) get the majority of their budget from taking a cut of research grants, and secondarily from state funding and tuitions. At the various schools I have been involved in different forms with, tuition covers on;y like 20-40% of operating costs; the people who were really keeping the university afloat were researchers _not instructors_. It is partially because of these huge monetary incentives that STEM professors are usually expected to be researchers (and administrators of grad students) first, and teachers second: they have to pay the bills.
Iowa gets 5% of its funding from the state, reduced in budget cuts every year for decades. I honestly don't know why they don't cut their ties - 5% isn't worth all the Board of Regents interference.
