What state has universities charging that much for residents?
This is normally what I consider the cost of a university.
> mandatory dorms/meal plans, and if not dorms/meal plans then rent/food/car/etc
That's not fair to lump in, because all of that needs to be paid for just to exist. While I don't like the trend towards mandatory on-campus housing and meals, you still have to live somewhere and eat something, so I don't really think tacking the entire cost of those into the cost of a university is fair.
On top of that, if living in a dorm and eating crappy cafeteria food is much more expensive than living off-campus in an apartment and getting your own food from a grocery store, I think it's fair to include those mandatory costs into the "cost of a university".
If you wanted groceries there was a 1/week bus that did it, and if you wanted to be exposed to anywhere off campus you'd have to drive. There were often arts, research, etc. events that would require driving.
"I really have to wonder why these poor students went there"
Because they could afford it(the tuition was low comparatively) and it's relatively well known with a good reputation.
"That one thing alone probably would have made all the difference for your friends who dropped out due to finances."
It wouldn't have, sorry, we were a super afforable school at around ~15k/semester. At that point owning a car is chump change.