I have heard of families sending their children to study outside the US where college life is not like here.  One family I know mentioned the Philippines where Catholic values are still upheld in medical school. Maybe it is even cheaper.

Don't get a medical degree from the University of the Bahamas.

I'm not sure that a foreign college degree will mean something in the US?

I have had friends whose degrees from foreign countries mean nothing here and they can't get a job.

Many doctors from the local hospital are foreign.  
Maybe they start out there and then finish off here.  
I am not so sure how it works but I would definitely look into it especially if you wish to pursue medicine.  
I know two families who's children went away for med school then came back for residency.
No details though, I would dig deeper.

It's really not too terribly difficult to deal with a few years of college if you have the right mindset.  Young people who generally keep to themselves and are extremely focused will probably be better off than most.  Even state schools are not that bad, ours at least.

-Commute or rent an apartment by yourself or with a studious and trusted friend or fellow student.  They do exist.  You want the type that stays in the library basement half the time.  Staying in the dorms is not a good idea, Catholic or not.

-Go to campus for classes, review sessions, exams, work if applicable, and studying when necessary.  Find quiet areas to study when in between classes, etc.  Try math libraries, other libraries, and other study areas and atriums within the buildings.  Otherwise, study at home (wherever that happens to be).

-I can't recommend many degrees where you'd be well-off as a Catholic earning, and most of them are useless anyway, if you actually plan to find work later within that field.  Try science (physics, biology, biochemistry, whatever), engineering, maths, agriculture, and other hard sciences.  Stay away from literature and other soft majors.

-Be polite with fellow students but stay away from those that rub you the wrong way.  It really is not hard to avoid bad company.  It's not hard to avoid being "too friendly" with the opposite sex.  In fact, you will, if you follow the advice above, you won't even have to avoid it because you won't be around it hardly at all.  (You still might be around people of the opposite sex but it's not going to kill you.)

-Stay occupied.  Work.  Work in a lab or anywhere else morally neutral.  Which happens to be most jobs, in all likelihood.  Have hobbies and occupy yourself with them.  Take up knitting, metalsmithing, birdwatching, polo, or whatever else floats your boat.  Study and commit yourself to doing well.

-Assist at Mass as often as possible and pray the Rosary every day.

This worked for me, and I have no doubt that it will work for others.  Maybe not everyone, but surely someone.  

If a trad absolutely needs a degree (doctors, lawyers, etc.), what colleges / universities in the US are his best option?

Any college - any where.

A Trad should be strong enough to learn a secular trade without being perturbed at the going's on at the university.

 :dancing-banana:
Adult Catholics who need college should choose the school that best fits their needs, professional, academic, financial, geographic.  For adults, college is a means to an end.  Children should not go to college as they will likely lose their Faith.   When children of adult age are 'sent away to college,' there is rarely a specific goal, rather, it is for the 'experience' in and of itself in the mistaken belief that it will produce a Catholic adult with a career and a life.  

I attend a public university where I receive a $1000 stipend each semester while earning my degree - plus I've grown deeper in my faith since I started attending the university.

I'd say its a pretty good deal.