[82lsju]

It's probably not a good idea to take words written in such an article too literally, and I cannot even read the article because I don't have a WSJ subscription - but that doesn't quite seem like Stanford.

First off, as far as I know, no school yet charges $65K in annual tuition, at least for undergrads. Stanford charges $52,857 for the upcoming school year. So, presumably the writer really means either the official full cost of attendance or some approximation to it.  For Stanford cost of attendance is listed at $74,570 plus travel.
Of course in the not so distant past, that number would have been close to $65K.
There are lots of private schools in California which will be in the same ballpark, and presumably some a little cheaper (not U$C which lists full cost of attendance at $77,459).

The main reason this does not sound like Stanford is that Stanford does not give merit scholarship aid (outside of athletics, which is a type of merit-based aid). Most private universities do.

I removed my speculation in the initial post

[82lsju]

It's probably not a good idea to take words written in such an article too literally, and I cannot even read the article because I don't have a WSJ subscription - but that doesn't quite seem like Stanford.

First off, as far as I know, no school yet charges $65K in annual tuition, at least for undergrads. Stanford charges $52,857 for the upcoming school year. So, presumably the writer really means either the official full cost of attendance or some approximation to it.  For Stanford cost of attendance is listed at $74,570 plus travel.
Of course in the not so distant past, that number would have been close to $65K.
There are lots of private schools in California which will be in the same ballpark, and presumably some a little cheaper (not U$C which lists full cost of attendance at $77,459).

The main reason this does not sound like Stanford is that Stanford does not give merit scholarship aid (outside of athletics, which is a type of merit-based aid). Most private universities do.

I removed my speculation in the initial post