I was in college in the mid to late 2000’s when tuition in IL was increasing 10-15% per year, schools were competing to build fancier dorms and gyms to attract the kids of Boomers who insisted everyone attend college, and at least in IL, the state was busy going bankrupt under a kleptocratic elected representation and didn’t want to fund higher Ed, or really anything.  

As I recall, there was a slow slide to the Fed.gov funding an increasing share of undergrad education and private lenders took on the brunt of funding advanced degrees across the board.