I graduated in '83 and my highly selective Boston school was $12,000/year all-in. I felt it was a good mix of large weed-out classes and smaller specialty classes. From 1913 to 2013 average inflation in the US was roughly 3% (the last decade has actually been lower). So if colleges had maintained that rate of price increase, I’d be able to send my kids to that same school for about $30,000 all-in today. But in actuality that school would charge me $65,000 if DS1 entered as a freshman. I do think that if schools had given more effort to cost containment that they should be able to offer their education for about $30k. Even if they built some buildings, amenities, endowed chairs , let’s say 40k. But I think they were more concerned about building their own reputation and “keeping up with the Joneses”. Also I spoke with a board member from another well known Boston school and undergraduate tuition rate was honestly low on the agenda. Graduate programs, cutting edge research, other things take priority. Lastly , parental love and desire to launch their kids is highly in-elastic.