Like I said, it is because a lot of students don’t have above 700+ in each section of the SAT (so they don’t make nmfs ) so they don’t earn President Endowed Scholarships. Those who do make nmf get a free ride. Similarly, lots of Aggie parents make more than $60k a year, so they pay close to full tuition, which is still a reasonable $10 per year.
It is not silly at all to a Texan, which is why A&M students are the happiest in the country. You apparently have no idea of how well UT and A&M graduates do without earning a BA. For example, I am looking at the 2014 US News and WR ranking of engineering schools and there isn’t a single ivy in the top 12, but I do see UT and A&M why is that? No 11, A&M spends over $900k per prof on research. In contrast, No 23 Harvard spends $700k. No 17 Princeton spends $675. Finally, your beloved Yale at No 34, spends a whopping $565k per professor on research.