Because 95% American familles qualify for financial aid at MIT or caltech or other top schools. Their students may take the federal loans ($5,500 freshman year) or may not (no-loans policy). These schools are among the most generous with financial aid. For families that make 250+K many feel what they offer is worth the cost even if it means spending a quarter if their income on their child’s studies.
(Many lower income families are in far less favorable circumstances.)
Did you run NPC 's? What were the results?
Did you apply for financial aid? If you did and the results were disappointing, did you appeal or what did they tell you?
Do your parents own a nice house they could take HELOC on? Rates are pretty good right now.
Grad schools have a sticker price. I don’t know why you thought it’d suddenly be all free. The fact there’s a sticker price doesnt mean students pay that. Any PhD worth attending will be funded, so that you won’t pay for tuition and will receive a stipend. Funding is entirely intellectual-promise-based : with a First from Cambridge you’d likely qualify. Your parents ’ income /assets would not be taken into account (except at Harvard).
But overall, yes the cost of college has taken off from reality in the US, in part because competition works both ways - to lower prices to match your competitor but also to increase them if you want to appear the same 'brand quality ’ as competitors that increase their price. In addition, colleges have found they need to market to typical 17-year olds, and what 17year olds like isn’t updated libraries and they can’t ascertain class size or percentage of tenured/tenure track professors, but rather. Cool gyms, lazy rivers, suite style dorms, swanky student unions… Stuff that looks good and is easy to understand.