FWIW, I obtained an MBA from a well-respected University after over 3 years of night & weekend classes, all the while holding down a full time job, doing some side work, and raising an infant with my wife. I took no aid, and didn't even receive tuition assistance from my employer.
When you did your cost-benefit analysis, did you correlate the rise in tuition rates with increasing federal involvement in subsidizing the cost of college and graduate education?
What you have missed is that perhaps the main reason why college is so expensive is because it is so heavily subsidized by the federal government. Take away federal subsidies and you'll see tuition rates fall to where more and more folks can afford to pay their own way.
And for those who still want to take loans, let them apply for them at their local bank. If there is a business case for loaning a person money to go to college, the banks stand to profit on their loan, without the need for government involvement.
Let others apply for grants and scholarships funded by those citizens who wish to donate their own money to such causes rather than being forced to give up their income to the federal government under the threat of arrest.
Where do you want to place the blame? On this young student for accepting a grant being offered to her or on the government for being to intrusive on the education market?
I say place it on the government, not on the individual's doing what they feel is necessary.