In fact most students don’t pay $65k to go to school. Most students are going to their community colleges or in state schools which average more like $20-30k. There are also the big merit aid schools.
Adding: when anyone discusses this, especially using anecdotes, it’s important to state whether the colleges in question are “meet full need.” Because if the school isn’t- and especially if a school doesn’t have much to give- all bets are off. You need to make yourself savvy to how aid works or doesn’t at various colleges. Read what the colleges say about their aid policies. Then yes, play with the Net Price Calculators for each school.
But the way this split has been explained in this thread is how many of us have seen it work: the EFC (SAR) for each child, from Fafsa, will be about 60% of what it is when only one is headed off, assuming vanilla.
If you don’t want to pay that, you look hard at the alternatives.
Don’t get me started there is NO UNDERGRAD WORTH 65K/YR PERIOD for 99.99% of majors.and 99.99% of the students…the college bubble will burst it is not sustainable!