It only costs hundreds of thousands if you get no scholarships, did no curricular activities, took no AP courses, and didn't do well in school in general.
Most schools will provide students with academic scholarships. My school paid for the first year of my schooling because of my GPA and test scores.
Plus I'm pretty sure getting into Kettering University is a lot easier than Stanford. They didn't even have an admissions essay when I applied.
And considering it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to get a degree at Stanford, it's not clear that it's the far superior option.