I think this can’t be emphasized enough…so much depends on the characteristics of the individual being discussed. Two people from the same family might go through the same type of environment and have very different reactions. One might try to keep up with the Joneses (or the Rockefellers) while the other can acknowledge the great things that the Joneses/Rockefellers have, yet have no yearning or expectation to have that same lifestyle.
So whether a family had enough interest in a trust fund to not make a dent on their principal to cover all costs, or scrimped and saved for decades to splurge on a full pay education, or had received sufficient aid (merit or financial) to make it a $50k or $10k or $1k enterprise, I still think a lot depends on the individual and not the school they attend.
That said, however, if a person who cared a lot about keeping up with the Joneses attended a non-flagship public U. or a private that was not a Top X + a good number of schools, I doubt they would be seeing quite the economic distribution as those that attend a school that is one of the 75 most expensive in the U.S. and thus would be less likely to be gunning for the pinnacle of consumerism that they might aim for at a school with folks who have more conspicuous consumption.
I’m in general agreement with this in terms of making generalizations based on high sticker prices, though I think that schools (excluding flagships) with low sticker prices generally have much less of a “country club-ish” feel.