Harvard's status as a premium product might be harder to maintain if they didn't inflate their prices to stay above their "standard" competitors (state schools).
They can maintain their elite status while heavily discounting tuition to those with financial need, since the very image of "premium product" means that there will always be people willing to pay for it. It is essentially a self-fulfilling idea.
I recall visiting Harvard during a high school debate tournament, and being utterly unimpressed with the facilities compared to what I had seen at non-ivy-league schools. The money you pay for tuition really isn't going into a better education, it's maintaining the illusion that draws big names as both students and professors, and all the networking opportunities that then manifest as better outcomes for graduates.
They can maintain their elite status while heavily discounting tuition to those with financial need, since the very image of "premium product" means that there will always be people willing to pay for it. It is essentially a self-fulfilling idea.
I recall visiting Harvard during a high school debate tournament, and being utterly unimpressed with the facilities compared to what I had seen at non-ivy-league schools. The money you pay for tuition really isn't going into a better education, it's maintaining the illusion that draws big names as both students and professors, and all the networking opportunities that then manifest as better outcomes for graduates.