I went to my state school instead of a private university purely because of cost. It just never seemed worth it to spend so much for 4 years of my life.
It's funny too, since I went to a high school where everyone felt the need to go to expensive colleges. Guidance counselors would assume you were going to an out of state or private school. There was no push for in-state schools.
Other than technical reasons for college being so expensive, such as legislation making it extremely easy to take out huge loans, a big factor is "prestige" and social status.
Going to my school was extremely uncool where I lived. But over the years the school I went to has gotten more and more enticing for students, I'm guessing because more high schoolers are wondering what the purpose of spending so much on college is.
I suspect (or, at least hope) US state schools become something like public European universities, where they become increasingly more "prestigious" as costs increase.
It's funny too, since I went to a high school where everyone felt the need to go to expensive colleges. Guidance counselors would assume you were going to an out of state or private school. There was no push for in-state schools.
Other than technical reasons for college being so expensive, such as legislation making it extremely easy to take out huge loans, a big factor is "prestige" and social status.
Going to my school was extremely uncool where I lived. But over the years the school I went to has gotten more and more enticing for students, I'm guessing because more high schoolers are wondering what the purpose of spending so much on college is.
I suspect (or, at least hope) US state schools become something like public European universities, where they become increasingly more "prestigious" as costs increase.