Heh, when I was in college, I worked for a high-end luggage store in a mall. $400 was pretty normal for a carry-on there. If you want a good laugh, go to the websites for Tumi or Hartmann.
In my youthful stupidity, I spent $200 to get a nice 24" Victorinox bag with a 50% employee discount. I still have the bag a decade later and will probably use it for at least another decade, but that's just overkill for a suitcase, especially for a college student.