At least for elite public schools, the average student receives more in "aid" than they pay, meaning they are paying less than half of the "price". https://www

At least for elite public schools, the average student receives more in "aid" than they pay, meaning they are paying less than half of the "price". https://www.collegesimply.com/colleges/illinois/university-of-illinois-at-urbana-champaign/price/ https://www.collegesimply.com/colleges/illinois/university-o... And yes, it's a source of bad outcomes that those that cannot afford the inflated price of elite universities do not know that they would never have to pay that.