I think that is a very out of touch thing to say. If you're poor you can probably get financial aid. If you're upper middle class you can either afford it or ge

I think that is a very out of touch thing to say. If you're poor you can probably get financial aid. If you're upper middle class you can either afford it or get approved for a loan, but the median household income in the us is $53k. From there to about $100k is too poor to pay out of pocket for an elite school, and to rich to financial aid. Plus, you have to get approved for loans, and have parental co-signers. For me personally my parents had no interest in co-signing a $100k loan. For others their parents may have really bad credit. If you want it enough there are probably ways, but as an non-rich 18 year old (or parent of an 18 year old) it's a a HUGE gamble to take on that kinda debt for a degree that you might not even finish and if you do it might not pay for itself.