Private universities are controlled by themselves, leaving them up to their own devices when it comes to how to spend money. They can receive money from the government, but it is up to them about how they disperse the aid they receive. This creates a divide between many private universities, some of which offer financial aid to any student who proves need, but also creates many private universities that do not offer as much aid to their students as they could. Private universities such as New York University, are notorious for dispersing aid to people who many school's would not consider giving aid to. According to CBS News, the school was even using the money they allotted for tuition aid for students and giving "sweetheart loans" to people such as the president of the university to help him buy a house. While this is an extreme case, this is one problem that occurs when looking at private institutions. Those who are able to afford it (typically the upper class), are able to attend the elite colleges of their choice without having to worry about what the financial aid office gives them. The lower class is taken care of, usually because the school's need to make sure that they are not biased towards their students. However, it is the middle class that ends up suffering because of this disparity because they fall into neither of those categories financially, and are therefore unable to afford to go to private universities without extreme measures being taken by their family to send them there. This also creates a problem because most of the best school's in the United States are private, which therefore limits students further in their life, the chances of them gaining the education they deserve being taken away due to financial restrictions.
Private Institutions:
Not operated by governments, although many receive tax breaks, public student loans, and grants.