This reminded me of a discussion I was having with my brother somewhat recently. We've both done pretty well, I wouldn't say rich but both comfortably in the upper half of the middle class. He was talking about saving for kids colleges and my suggestion was actually to not do that and instead just make clear to his kids that as far as education expense goes figure it out yourself essentially, as that's how we were raised.

The fact of the matter is we both figured it out in our own ways and without loans or free money from parents. I worked and paid my way through, it took about six years and was hard and there was no time for the "go off and find yourself at the indoctrination camp" college life. It was something I did when I wasn't at work to get a piece of paper. Looking back, I wouldn't change a thing. Starting off in my mid 20s with zero debt to my name and continuous legit work history going back to when I was 16 was a springboard into the rest of my life that getting a handout could have never provided.