<p>Well, no one asked this question because you cannot be in such a situation.
How on earth will a middle-class student graduate from Princeton with 300k$ of debt?
I mean Princeton has the LOWEST average debt among the peer institutions and its financial aid is among the best.
And if ever someone was required to pay the whole think he or his parents must be super rich, in which case they won’t really let him get such huge loans.
Finally, It is not 300k$: it is like 240k (with inflation) in the worst case. And the impact is not simply a slight bump for the first job but rather an undying prestige + committed Alumni network to which he/she will be attached for ever.
I seriously don’t get why all of this anger: did your son get in with 0 Financial aid or what?
If so, you shouldn’t really be that angered by the tuition and you could find other good schools with merit scholarships (UC’s and such…)
Oh, and those questions you find easy such as MIT vs. Princeton are in fact the hardest (one you get rid of the financial factor)</p>