Possibly the difference between the amount of subbed and unsubbed loans that you can take out as a freshman verses a junior. One of my friends (this was a decade ago) got a great financial aid package her freshman year at a private college. Then each year, as new levels of Stafford loans unlocked, the university replaced "freshman" scholarships with loans.
Still, a $75k jump is unheard of unless you're doing some sort of hybrid undergrad/med school program.
No one really pays sticker price for college. I had some grants, financial aid, and (like someone else mentioned), the co-op program helped pay for some of my tuition.
I did work, at Target, making minimum wage. One full-time paycheck was about 300 bucks, give or take. Since I supported myself, that money was used on car/food/gas. So, 300 bucks was the most I'd ever seen.
He went to RIT, so he might been in a coop program. Not sure how RIT's works, but if its similar to uwaterloo's (which I've been told is so), after 2 calender years, he may have had only 3 school terms and 3 work terms. That's ~65k for school minus whatever he managed to save from his work terms.
Still, a $75k jump is unheard of unless you're doing some sort of hybrid undergrad/med school program.