people pay that kind of money for a prestigious degree from Harvard, MIT, Wharton, etc...though I don't see that most of those schools are even worth that kind of money. I'll never understand paying that for a small private college though. An area on my mission had a small college called Whitman college. Those kids told me that they were paying 50k for tuition and fees @ a liberal arts college. The reasons I heard for why they chose Whitman:

1 - Smaller class sizes will lead to my getting a better education (Your degree is freaking liberal arts. Why does your education even matter?)

2 - I fell in love with Walla Walla and the campus.