Why do Universities receive taxpayer money?

I know there are exceptions, like Hillsdale college, but why would others take money from
tax payers? Would they not be able to survive on their own with just tuitions? How does
Hillsdale do it?

Is it like NPR and PBS? Their business model is not strong enough to support itself?

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Heartlander · 80-89, M

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.