In this country, we charge students tens of thousands of dollars for that diploma. In fact, at my "public" university, first year students are required to:

1. Live on campus (this comes out to about $700 per-person, per-month, for a very tiny room you share with other people)
2. Purchase a meal plan ($1,000 - $2,500 a semester)

Of course, these and all other services (except teaching and research) are privately owned.

Otherwise, everything's pretty much the same.