That's exactly the question I'd. My impression was that most people enrolling at top 100 or so colleges don't pay much of tuition out of the pocket because they

That's exactly the question I'd. My impression was that most people enrolling at top 100 or so colleges don't pay much of tuition out of the pocket because they get funded via combination of financial aid, loan and campus jobs. Is the situation totally different at middle-of-the-pack colleges? Average student loan in US is about $25K and that seems fairly manageable[1]. I believe high sticker price is just a way to do tiered pricing by universities so that rich people pays the max possible amount. There are lot of parents actually doing double jobs so they do 509 college funds and I always question them why you really need it? 1 - http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/01/24/the-average-american-owes-this-much-in-student-loa.aspx http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/01/24/the-average...