Private schools with huge endowments actually do cover tuition for people with lower incomes. For example, Princeton covers 100% of tuition and room & board for family income below $65,000:
They started doing that relatively recently. Back then, it was a small grant, a job, and a large loan. Software didn't start outpacing other engineering professions' pay till the web boom. That was hindsight since I had the faintest clue what a major was.
Choosing a major that results in a job versus one based on interests.
Another decision was not to go to graduate school right afterwards. Poignant memory was of a professor asking if I was going to graduate school after I did well in a graduate school level course and saying no.
> Choosing a major that results in a job versus one based on interests.
When I attended Caltech in the 70s, it was commonplace for people in AY (Astronomy) to double major. When asked, the reason was always "AY for fun, and ME/EE/Whatever for a job."
I very much tilted my choice of classes towards what I thought would be most advantageous for my anticipated career. It never occurred to me that I was being deprived. It was just common sense.
Ironically, my career wound up in a field that had little to do with my studies :-)
https://admission.princeton.edu/cost-aid/how-princetons-aid-...
MIT doesn't lay the income levels out so clearly but has a similar program:
http://sfs.mit.edu/undergraduate-financial-aid/types-of-aid/...
Public schools with huge endowments are getting in on the game:
https://record.umich.edu/articles/u-m-unveils-tuition-guaran...