For the airfare cost issue, perhaps it may be worth considering the cost of airfare for likely trips (beginning and end of of school year and breaks) and adding it to the net price of each school when comparing costs.
If College X has estimated yearly airfare costs $2,000 greater than that of College Y, but College X otherwise has a net price that is $10,000 lower than College Y, it still nets to $8,000 less expensive.
Then you need not rule out geographic regions based on assumed airfare costs, but can incorporate the airfare costs into the cost comparisons.