Our California kids went/go to out of state private schools for less money than it would cost us to send them to a live away CSU or UC. The local UC, if they lived at home would be comparable but the CSU requires those in the honors program to live on campus and that makes it way more expensive than what we are paying now (and honors program comes with priority registration and that’s the only way to do that particularly compacted school.) Many of the UC’s are upfront to expect an additional 2 quarters at least to graduate so that also bumps up the cost as well.
If they didn’t get the merit and financial aid needed, we would have been proud to send them to our public universities. I went to one myself. As it is, our kids were able get the small school, discussion based classes, non-compacted liberal arts education they wanted for less at a non-state school. They have strong relationships with their professors which isn’t impossible at a state school but certainly easier to get right off the bat at a LAC. Plus, lots of perks like living-learning communities, more support for travel abroad, etc.