@MichiganGeorgia, Penn State, in state, has a COA of $35,000 a year. (Pitt is $34,000, Temple $32,000.)
Is another $5,000 worth it to a family whose student who would like to go to school in another/warmer/Southern state and/or didn’t get accepted to University Park? If they can afford it (and many can), you betcha. Same thing with NJ residents, where Rutgers in state is $31,000 a year.
Forty thousand was way too expensive for us, too, but we know lots of people who are full pay at privates, shelling out $60,000 a year.