A significant share of enrollment at certain colleges and universities is effectively underwritten by taxpayers through federal student aid, grants and loan programs, according to an examination of how public money flows through higher education. The pattern is most pronounced at institutions with heavy reliance on federal Pell Grants and subsidized loans relative to their overall revenue.

Critics argue that some schools have structured their pricing and recruitment around maximizing access to federal aid dollars, with too little accountability for student outcomes such as graduation rates and post-graduation earnings. Defenders counter that federal aid is doing exactly what it was designed to do.

The debate feeds into a broader, long-running argument in Washington over how to structure accountability for colleges that receive substantial taxpayer support.