[Andrew NDB]

I think something like...

If you're upper class, yeah, you should definitely set aside at least enough to ensure the kids have college "taken care of." Plus, if the parents make too much money, the kids are ineligible to receive most grants/scholarships anyway.

Where it gets muddy is with middle to lower class families that are struggling. If after bills, mortgage, and all of that... is it really on them to also set aside tens of thousands of dollars for a college tuition the kids may not even end up needing or wanting?

And nobody wants school loans haunting the kids... but whether the kid isn't paying for it with them or spending some time in the military to pay for it (or any one of a few different options available)... then it's the parents' forking over their own money for it, isn't it? It's not like this money isn't burdening anybody or it's just money laying around. Maybe Mama Betty hands over $30,000 to pay for Little Betty's tuition and the next month, now she's got no money to pay for Mama Betty's quadruple bypass surgery. You know what I mean?

Though above anything and everything, I'd really love to take a really long and hard look at how and why college education costs as much as it does nowadays. I'm not certain how it can be justified that college tuition, books, etc., have risen up about 3000% since about the '70s. It used to be kids could work a summer job and put themselves through college... now that's completely unthinkable.