I’ve got huge sympathy for the folks who are surprised by just how much they’ll be expected to pay. Because that could so easily have been us. Even though we’re generally smart about money.
I stumbled upon CC back when D1 was about to start 9th grade. Ran a quick FAFSA estimate. I can still remember seeing the number and thinking “surely that’s the total for all four years?”.
Yes, NPCs help but to get to them first you go through the schools saying that they offer generous aid, or they work with you to make the school affordable. Once you’ve hung around CC for a bit you know to be skeptical, but that’s assuming you’ve hung around here a bit. Folks may have heard about the terrible burden of student loans but the schools are going to give them great aid so they won’t need it, right? 
Easy traps to avoid when you have some knowledge. Not so easy when all you’re hearing is the school GC saying where your child should apply, and that there’s money for hardworking kids.