[hunson_abadeer]

I think the argument rings hollow to me mostly because it's not that Harvard has to charge this much. I'm sure they could be providing the same quality of education for 1/5th the price. In fact, with the endowments many of these schools have, they could probably go tuition-free for a couple of decades and still be fine.

They charge this much essentially because they can (govt-subsidized loans), and because it helps them maintain a certain reputation.

[whimsicalism]

Harvard has been around for centuries, long-time-horizon planning is rare in the current corporate landscape but less so at such large institutions.

Harvard effectively is close-to-free if you are not rich, but why would they subsidize people from rich families?

Govt subsidized loans thing is wrong also, very few Harvard students have any sort of loan.