I think the confusion is that most of us come from a time when the accepted wisdom was that if you didn’t get a full ride in a grad school program you didn’t go. I know that was very common when I came to the end of my undergrad and personally know several people who Didn’t Go for that reason.

As a result the people I know from the time who went on to graduate degrees all had free rides (except the MFAs, who I admit are a mystery to me, and the people who went back for MBAs later).