Not every poor person uses those benefits, or knows that they are available. making it free from the get go would make it miles easier for people with no money to get an education without jumping through hoops, remove any social stigma against receiving financial aid, and would not deter people from going to college because they might get into debt in the future or be disqualified from life-saving financial aid.

I am not saying that rich people would not benefit by having to pay less, but the benefit that the lower class of people would get would out-weigh any benefit the rich would get. and I don't think private colleges would go anywhere, so the rich can just pay extra for that fancy education if the want too.