The cost of education is a complex issue. You have to factor in that most universities are no longer just about the the scholarly tradition, they are play lands. They know that a big percentage of people drop out in the first 2 years, that most of those people are between ages 18-21, so they make those years the most lucrative. University campuses have become little cities, with sports and entertainment complexes, fitness centers, and high cost amenities. All the schools are competing with one another to the bigger and better in terms of offering "all the things". This is reflected in the tuition costs.
Universities used to be about making a contribution to intellectual discourse and the scholarly tradition. Then consumer capitalism transformed it into getting a job. I went to school in the U.S. and then again in Canada. I found the Canadian curriculum far more rigorous. In Europe it's even more rigorous. In the U.S. it's more of a cultural thing to get what you've paid for, not necessarily rigorous study. So the content is less challenging, but as long as you fork over the money you get the paper. It has a ring of "the consumer is always right" underlying it. Unless you're in one of the top 10 schools in the U.S., my opinion is that you're paying a lot of money for an education of lesser quality. Though you wouldn't know that from the "top university rankings", which by the way all factor in those amenities I mentioned.
The "best schools" are based on all the extra crap that they have.
It's going to take a student loan bubble bursting before we get our education system sorted. A degree should not be $100,000K+ for someone just starting out in life.
