Maybe things have changed since then; the big elite schools like Harvard have grants which cover basically everything you can’t afford. (At the time I was looking in 2015, my total cost would have been around $4k/semester.) According to them, 20% of students don’t pay anything at all
Were student loans not an option? Or maybe they were, but the cost of tuition was too high and deemed not worth it?
I don't remember. But this was before the big changes in financial aid laws during the 1990s. I'm not sure whether I was personally eligible for loans. I have no recollection of that option ever being discussed. I do know that the financial aid application required information from my parents.
They didn't have a house or four to sell to pay for those irreplaceable connections?