No, I am not thinking of twenty years ago, I accurately stated the cost of tuition today, which generally does not include renting a place to live, on-campus or otherwise, or a meal plan.

You didn't say "cost of tuition" in your original comment.

Further, I think it's disingenuous to only consider tuition. Cost of living in e.g. Berkeley is ridiculous, literally more than tuition. [1]

(I understand that living is not something Berkeley can fix, but it's very much their problem and a concern on students' minds, regardless of whose "fault" it is)

To only consider tuition is a cost-shifting marketing tactic that these schools use so you don't focus on the bottom line. Their goal is to get you to attend. Period.

Let's look at a less prestigious school-- UCSB tuition is about 12k, but total cost might be 24k (official estimate says 32k [2], but I have the random fees they have to not be applicable, e.g. "campus fees" or "books")

[1] https://admissions.berkeley.edu/cost

[2] https://www.finaid.ucsb.edu/cost-of-attendance

I went to UIUC and paid ~$6k / year in-state (not including living costs). That has now increased dramatically to ~$20k/year. And, obviously, you still have to pay for living costs while you're a student and the part-time jobs typically available to you don't pay very much.

Having a place to live and food to eat seems to me to be pretty important part of your education.

But is explicitly not tuition. If you weren't in school you would still need to eat and live somewhere.

But its still a cost you have to pay for somehow, and since you are, hopefully, going to classes, studying, and doing homework, you are largely preventing from having a job lucrative enough to pay for those things completely.