So tuition at MIT is $43,720. If a student takes 8 classes in a year (4 per semester), this means that each class costs roughly $5,500 per student, or $110,000 for 20 students. I have trouble believing that even a course in cell culture or molecular biology could cost that much, let alone general chemistry or...a math class.
I think those numbers come from taking the entire school budget (maybe subtracting the research grants), and dividing it among the students. There is certainly a case to be made that having lab research on campus is valuable to the students, but I don't know that it really makes sense to attribute
all the costs to them.
That said, MIT is indeed its own unique and singular place, and it's not really "just as good" to just go there for grad school. But I think it is a luxury good. A Yugo will get you to work just as well, but you'll enjoy the ride more in the Lexus. You might get the same job after college if you go to BU, but you'll enjoy college more at MIT (if you're a person who ought to go to MIT). I think you'll also learn better habits of thought at MIT that will serve you better in the years afterward, but that's not a statement I can prove.
