The Rising Cost of College - Solutions?

Okay, as some may know, college costs are greatly expensive and rising every year (at 8%, I think the figure was).

Often, college is so expensive that students must take out loans from the government.  Now, I don't want to infringe on the sovereignty of schools or their programs.  Yet I hear that schools are squandering money on crap like rock climbing walls?

Now, I'm not wondering if there's not some way to introduce a bill in congress that will regulate schools in some manner, possibly by forcing them to have their budget approved by a third party.

Now, there are issues that may rise with this, including special interest groups trying to limit what can be taught on college campuses, or companies that don't know much about the educational value of a class or the attendance demanding that the college drop the program.  Hell, there are probably other consequences I'm not seeing.  Oh, here's one:  Additional costs due to overhead/employing the services of the company, whether such costs are government subsidized or paid by the college.

Solutions to the costs of college aren't simple.  There needs to be some way to keep college costs under control (maybe pressuring the colleges by an organized boycott of the campuses and courses, demanding that the change and only use funds for what's necessary plus maybe minor additions for leisure?)  Money speaks to many colleges, I think (especially the for profit ones).  If they have to cater to an organized decline in the number of students going to their campuses, maybe they'll be forced to rethink their fiscal policy.

Hell, maybe the approval process can be grassroots, where projects won't be built unless they're improved by students who get to see the costs and projected tuition, fees, room, board, and other cost increases.

There's no clear or definite solution, as nobody has really tried anything.  I think that something needs to be done, though.  College costs have a serious need to come under control.  It doesn't just affect the students.  It also affects the taxpayer, as all too often, thousands to tens of thousands of dollars seem to be spent taking out student loans, a fair amount of which either go into default or forbearance.

Having a greatly educated population is great, but when the costs are as high as they are, it may drive away brilliant minds who are two scared or reluctant to attend because of the massive debt that they'll be responsible for upon graduation.