Look, I see both sides of this, and I have a daughter who has applied to TCU among other schools. We've toured about five, and the costs of all of them have gone up substantially over the last few years.
We've visited private schools, and a couple of them have costs in the same neighborhood as TCU. Others, and I hope TCU, will give merit based aid to bring the costs closer to public school cost.
The school has changed greatly, for the better, but it's true that some of it seems out of hand. The dorms are unreal, the facilities are unreal, and athletics have gone from below average to way above in the last 25 years.
We've been fortunate so I can technically afford it regardless of the price, but I hope she'll get aid that brings it to a more reasonable number, if in fact that is where she wants to go.
There are always cheaper options but it depends on what you're OK with, whether you have parents helping with cost, and what you want to do in life. College in general is getting to be more of a question (my son got an auto body collision degree and is already making money two years out of HS with no debt).
But you also have to consider what it provides relative to other options, factor in that it is an experience beyond an education, and know that in some fields it does matter to have a degree from a top notch school.
Tough situation though and I assume we'll reach a point where demand ebbs and things adjust.