I went to a state U because of the lower price tag. It was awful. Everyone around me was unmotivated, only wanted to party, immature, etc. The only place I could go to get away from them was the library and it was only open until midnight. The school’s funding was low so I was in a quad (one room, 4 beds). The lights were always on because one of my roommates was a night owl and another always had friends over (one friend actually moved in illegally for months).
There was a REASON I didn’t want to go to that school. But I was rather forced to go because of the price tag. (My mom couldn’t help that–I don’t blame her if she couldn’t afford more.) I ended up leaving the school in the middle of my 3rd semester and I’m working very, very hard in a CC trying to transfer back to a 4-year right now.
My point is: you might not see the reasons your child has for choosing whatever school he/she does. But reasons are there. If my mother had let me take out loans to make up the difference of the better school, I would have graduated by now. She wouldn’t have thought it was worth it, either.