Exactly right, and considering like 45% drop out and don't graduate, it ends up being a whole lot of money spent for zero return. Not every kid is college material and should go. Read that again, 45% fail to get a college degree after 6 years in school.
Here's another statistic, like only 20% of kids graduate after 4 years, so the odds are, your kid will be going for at least 5 years. Make sure to tack on those costs... you aren't going to pay for just 4 years...
That's why it takes a complete shift in thinking, instead of thinking I need to save $100K to pay for junior's college, the focus needs to be on, how can he get an education at the LEAST cost!!
The focus needs to be on FINDING money: scholarships, grants, tuition reimbursement plans, etc. Plus, a plan needs to be made to keep costs low. Send the kid to community college the first two years. You'll find out quickly if he's college material before blowing $25K minimum a year at a four year school. Kids DO NOT need to live at school, talk about throwing away money. They certainly AREN'T studying all that time.
Let the kid commute to school, stack all his classes up on two or three days, so he can go work part time the other days and make money to pay for it.
Lastly, the NUMBER ONE RULE TO REMEMBER.... College is a business, it's their goal to keep your kid there as long as possible, to keep extracting dollars from you. Always remember, they DON'T have YOUR best interests at heart, they have THEIRS, and taking as much of your money as possible is their plan.
Final note, and this should piss some people off, but here goes. The parents should NOT pay for junior's college tuition. It's not the parent's responsibility, since the college degree only benefits the kid. The parent's responsibility is get the kid graduated from high school. That's it.
Plus, the kid needs major skin in the game, by making the kid pay for his college, puts him on the hook, makes him responsible, and will make him think twice when he's failing a course, knowing HE'S paying for it the second time. It doesn't get any more Socialist than giving a kid a free ride with his college expenses on your dime.