Since the Stafford Loans came into play, higher education costs have soared to 2 and a half times greater than the inflation rate.
It's said that "if the cost of college tuition was $10,000 in 1986, it would now cost the same student over $21,500 if education had increased as much as the average inflation rate but instead education is $59,800" (Source: http://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Inflation_Articles/Education_Inflatio...).
Colleges and Universities have capitalized on government funding by raising prices every year. While there are large costs to keep the facilities running and pay for the faculty and staff, they should not amount to this.
If the government pulls the funding to Stafford and similar loans, sequestration shouldn't be an issue, nor will rising costs.