Harvard is Cheaper than Cal State

It messes with our sense of what elitism is: Harvard and Yale (and other similar places), the elitist of the elite, are rich enough with their hefty endowments that they are able to generously fund up to comfortably middle class students with little if any loan burden.

Meanwhile, state universities (and California is particularly messed up in this regard) are slashing their state university systems and hiking their tuition rates.

So it's come to this, says the San Jose Mercury News:

Top private schools, with their generous aid, have been among the most affordable options for poor students for a few years, but rising tuition has only recently sent California State University and University of California prices shooting past the Harvards and Yales for middle-class students.