Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's worth remembering that the US does not lack for excellent, public, shockingly expensive universities - California, Illinois, Michigan, Virginia, Minnesota, and North Carolina all readily spring to mind. We're not accepting uncritically that universities are private endeavors. We're accepting that some are and they should be allowed to continue to exist.
Did you mean shockingly inexpensive? UNC Chapel Hill (what I assume you mean by North Carolina) costs students from the state $8,834 USD. Out-of-state tuition is $33,916. I would not call either number "shockingly expensive." Michigan is $14,402 and $45,410. UVA is similar. Quite a bit more but still not anything shocking. Minnesota is similar but out-of-state tuition is just $23k.
[Edited to add: Some people have more than one child. Some of them have more than one child in college at the same time.]