I agree that kids are adaptable. Heck, when else in your adult life are you living and working with people your same age all doing the same thing albeit with different disciplines. And I agree with the issue of being strapped with loans that are burdensome and an impediment to getting off to a good start in life.
I do see a distinction between colleges with a big name but without a qualitatively better educational experience, where you still have the large lecture halls and limited access to professors. In contrast, my granddaughter at Harvard spent a summer studying in Italy at no extra cost. Another granddaughter at Rice studied at London School of Economics one summer at no extra cost. A friend’s son became turned on to learning because every course in his liberal arts studies at Columbia was a seminar with small classes and lots of discussion. Same thing for another friend’s daughter at Dickinson. At Williams College, students have the opportunity to opt for tutorials with just one other student and the professor. And while these colleges are more expensive unless a student has financial aid, the educational experience is qualitatively different. Students at these schools are not just buying prestige, they are paying for something which they believe is better than what they would itherwise experience.