Why do Universities receive taxpayer money?

Gobs of it…from the state governments and the federal government has a lot of grants that brings in huge amounts of money. There should be a lot more transparency with the assets that these university have. So many will leave their real estate to the university here so they have properties around the city that could be liquidated (if not used for university purposes) and that money used to fund projects.

Public colleges and universities were/are products of the state and federal government, even city governments in some cases, The government in return expects some benefits in return for the investments. In prior years there was a close connection between land grant colleges and the military. Even prior to that most states had one or more colleges with a quasi-military foundation.

For WW2, the US military was able to expand 12 fold practically overnight, in part because of the university ROTC programs. I believe Texas A&M was the greatest single source of military officers for the war, followed by Louisiana State University. So in a way, that was the payback for the taxpayers' investment.

Hillsdale College takes no governmental subsidies because they refuse to comply with titleIX. If you don't know what that is, look it up.
They get plenty of funding through right-wing organizations and private funding. That is how they do it. Right wing wealth indoctrinateing their students. They take no scholarship students.
In other words, they are a private college, with a clear agenda.
Make certain your grandkids enroll...

A lot of private/parochial schools are seriously against taking public funds. They fear it's the first step in opening the doors to government intrusion which would be near impossible to escape from later.

About 15% of all K-12 students attend private/parochial schools. Post secondary it's closer to 28%. Post secondary do accept pubic funds in on way or another, such as VA, Merit scholars, Pell, etc. It seems like nonpublic colleges and universities have successfully kept government hands at a distance.

Harvard has enough money in their endowment fund to pay tuition for millions

I've taken countless courses from Hillsdale (most free)

FWIW,

Here's a peek at what schools have what endowments, private and public.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universities_in_the_United_States_by_endowment

I highly recommend that ALL commenters read this article:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardvedder/2018/03/20/why-should-taxpayers-support-universities/

he who gives the money controls the curriculum..

I think the idea is that people who have what it takes, but not so much the wealth, can get an education

I take it you stand opposed to affordable higher education, then?