Weighing Price and Value When Picking a College

This article appeared recently in Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203739404574288301760990542.html) about the ever going debate whether elite and expensive universities are really worth it or a person can be as happy in attending a cheaper stste-run university?Basically,I would think it really depends on the person:if a person can afford to pay the heavy fees,then so be it,he should go to his dream school(provided he gets admission which is getting really tough these days,frankly).As I am an international,I would talk about International financial aid:schools like Yale provide full financial assistance)and there are some schools like Duke which provide financial aid according to demonstrated need to a few applicants .This increases exponentially the private rate of return to students who study in such excellent universities and as I discussed the news about Obama spending more on higher education,this is exactly what the esteemed president wants