Another important point is that research is typically funded from external sources, not from tuition. Therefore, if included in a simple per student calculation, any research intensive institution will appear to be subsidizing the cost of tuition despite the cost being covered by other sources. (e.g. A school w/ 10,000 students spending a $10MM grant from NSA does not raise the unit cost of educating each student by $1,000. It likely reduces costs by providing learning opportunities as well as student employment, covers faculty costs, …)