it could reach a much wider audience if it were sold to universities and promoted as a flexible and concise OOP programming language.
Except it isn't. It's not particularly flexible (you can't make Windows Services with it for instance, and there is no support for multi-threading) nor is it particularly object oriented (no access modifiers, no method overloading). I mean, if I can get my own programs used by universities, I'm sure they would be interested in using BlitzMax.
At my University, BlitzMAX was discarded as a tool for the game development courses for several reasons:a) It wasn't as entry level as Game Maker (it doesn't have the same support tools).
b) It wasn't as advanced as Torque (No 3D etc.)
BlitzMAX is a ingenious feat of engineering without a practical home. It is not a "whole product" (there are no support companies around it, providing tools, books and other supplementals) and thus is not very interesting to anyone but hobbyists and early adopters.
Also, when a Universitity approaches to enquiry about bulk licenses it's probably not a good idea to tell them they aren't ordering enough copies to qualify - if you want to get your foot in the door.