Perhaps a better question is, for those who paid full price at an elite private, would you have sent your kids there if there were fewer amenities, at a lower cost, with the same academic results and employment prospects? For me, the answer is yes, yes, yes!
People think it is the full-payers who are driving the amenities, but as one, I say it is not true. The colleges add all the frills so the $60k per year payers think they are getting their money’s worth. Some of us think it is unnecessary; just charge us less.