The thing that is really irksome is that, in order to really afford college, a family has to either be destitute so that they can get student loans and grants or really, really wealthy so that they can write the tuition checks.
My husband and I started putting aside money for college almost as soon as we learned I was pregnant with our first daughter. We're one of the in between people. My family lives comfortably; hubby's civilian salary is in the low, low six digits (we're taking a hit since his reserve unit got called up) but it won't afford us the luxury of paying college tuition out of hand and need-based financial aid is out of the question.
I got through college with grants, scholarships and working my butt off and hubby went to a service academy for free and we established early on that it was important for both of us that the girls are able to attend any college they can get in to. We're in good shape as of now to achieve that goal, but it's a good thing we started as early as we did judging by the ever-rising college costs!
PS Anyone send their kiddies to private school? Daughter number one's first grade tuition this past year was $7,400.00 or roughly what I paid for two years of college
Ugh!