It's the social signal a degree sends that people are paying for. That's the sad truth here. You don't go to stanford over a local liberal arts school because

It's the social signal a degree sends that people are paying for. That's the sad truth here. You don't go to stanford over a local liberal arts school because you'll get a massively superior education at Stanford - you go to Stanford so you can get to know other Stanford students who are more likely to be wealthy and connected. My dad went to stardford in the 70's, and he said when LaTex didn't have the physics symbol hbar, he just went over to Don Knuth's office and said hey dude, put an Hbar into this thing so physicists can use it. You won't get that kind of access as a local liberal arts or community college, and that kind of social access is worth far more than stuff you can learn for free on the internet.