That's interesting, because the main artist that I know the CalArts info from (in regards to the 1980s), dropped out of the program during those times. He went on to be a very talented figurative artist. He was a mentor of mine (of sorts), and his mentor was Helnwein. They were both hyper realists and both their work was rather controversial, but in very different ways. Of course Helnwein was/is successful and my friend was more infamous for something else, which he's never been able to shake, but they were both equally talented as artists.
I took an orientation tour of the campus when I was 17, hoping I would be able to go there one day. I went with another friend of mine, and when we were done with the tour, I thought to myself: I'll never be able to afford this place. I won't have the opportunity to go here. My friend (of the same family economic background) said: I don't care what it takes, I'm going to graduate from this place. And she did. She was in the animation department and wound up winning a student academy award for her thesis film. If I was living at home, maybe I could have qualified for a few loans and went there too, or somewhere (one of the many other schools I was looking into), but things turn out the way they do, and such is life.
I hear what you're saying about students not researching their schools, but I did, and my friends did. I didn't think of someone not looking into a school before they started getting their loans in place, especially because parents have a lot to do with that stuff and I'd think the parents would want to invest their time in knowing about the programs they are helping their kids with. Don't they usually co-sign these loans? If the parents are in too high of an income bracket, don't they pay for their kids to go to these schools with their savings? I'm not saying kids don't pay at all. I believe my animation friend got some loans and a scholarship, but that did not cover it all by any means and she worked many hours while she went to school, and full time during the summers. Any of that would warrant some research that one is going to the right school.