I read kaukauna’s remarks at #8 not as saying that any price whatever should be paid to attend the University of Chicago but, to quote one of the Merriam-Webster definitions of “priceless”, it has a “worth in terms of other than market value.”
A Chicago education will not appeal to everyone and not everyone will even believe it is all that special. Those who do believe it - I was once one such - should be willing to make a financial sacrifice, incur some level of debt, work part-time, do whatever it takes to supplement FA and, yes, call on parental assistance.
The anecdotes told on this board, as well as the stated policy of the University, suggest that Chicago students of modest means do not emerge with much in the way of debt and are not required to work either summers or part-time (though I did all those things in days gone by). As for what is a reasonable level of parental assistance - that will very much depend on where the parents put their priorities and whether they acknowledge the “priceless” feature kaukauna was attempting to describe. Many don’t get that about the University. Fine, but for those who do, it is hardly an irrelevant, much less an irresponsible, consideration.