<p>As I said, a nearby community (of over 300,000) has a median home price of $165,000. So half the houses sold are BELOW that number. Prices are in that range throughout California’s Central Valley. (The entire inland area that falls between the San Francisco Bay Area and the Greater Los Angeles area.)</p>
<p>In one way you are right, California’s home prices make it even harder for ordinary people with ordinary incomes (all of us non-movie stars and millionaires) to afford to eat, let alone pay $52,000 in tuition/room/board. As financial aid numbers are figured for nationwide averages, Californians have to deal with home prices higher than averages, but financial aid that does not take that into account.</p>