Divi Filius, I do understand your point. Here's some counter points to the ones you and the article bring up:
--Tuition in state-funded universities have gone up in large part because state funding has been cut. The universities need to make that money up from somewhere, and they can't always count on donors. Plus, most often sports broadcasting monies must be spent on the sports programs, and not on the academic side.
--The "need to compete" is very real. I've been working the academic job market for a few years now, and quite seriously, the starting pay for a PhD averages between $45,000 and $55,000--this is for a fresh-out-of-grad-school assistant professor applicant. Obviously the pay rises as time and experience allows, but to start off, that's peanuts. I live in a very expensive metropolitan area (the San Francisco Bay Area), and on $45-55k/yr, I couldn't afford to live alone. That's not taking into account the number of PhDs that have student loan debt! The University of Texas system has 'lured' several professors from California simply because the cost of living is lower, and there is no state income tax. Trust me, when you are on interviews and in negotiations for these positions, it's a fight to get the best you can.
--Infrastructure--this is upgrading buildings (making them not just up-to-code, but with the latest technological tools for teaching and communicating), upgrading and maintaining the libraries, the roadways in the campus, leaky roofs...the list goes on. To say the least, maintaining a university is highly expensive. Paper budgets are cut to make room for other things...which causes professors to need more webspace to place their course materials online...which costs the university money in other areas. Students and professors want the best technology they can get so that they can continue their work. This all costs money!
Look, the first complaint out of every parents' mouth is: "I can't afford to pay for college for my kids." Um, my parents didn't pay for my education, nor that of my brothers'. They could afford $3k/year. That's it; just for reference, we all went to University of California schools (myself and one brother to Davis, the other brother to Santa Barbara), where tuition plus other costs probably ran close to $10-15k/year. The rest of the money came from our working (in the dorms!) during the school year and in the summer, grants (every state has grant money available, and it's not hard to find), and student loans. You don't need to go into credit card debt; there are many, many ways. Millions of dollars in scholarship money is unclaimed and unspent because people don't know about the money.
So, bottom line: the rise in college tuition is real, but not nearly as "unaffordable" as people think! Nor are the rises unnecessary!