We set a budget and insisted both daughters stick to it.
One daughter from among multiple acceptances chose one of the schools that was affordable. In her case it was affordable due to a merit scholarship. She had to maintain a 3.0 GPA to keep the scholarship and we never discussed what would happen if she didn’t but fortunately her GPA was always way above this level.
The other daughter considered a few schools that the NPC showed would be way over budget. She ended up only applying to schools that were affordable.
Both ended up very happy at schools that were a good fit for them and that were within budget. One has graduated slightly under budget. The other is on track to graduate way under budget.
Right now with the pandemic and with people being furloughed from their jobs and stores and businesses being shut down I think emphasizes the value of avoiding debt if you possibly can.