Don't bother.  One of the reasons that Americans have a low median net worth is that college is a savings tax.  The more families save, the more is confiscated.

I recall at my high school, a lady from Yale was giving a conference.

Someone mentioned having stashed over $150,000 (this was in the 90s)

The response was "you've prepared very well."

You don't need to give these left-wing parasitic institutions your money.  

Why not have them work and pay for it?  

Children from a family of 5 on 36K would qualify for a full pell grant. Most if not all of tuition and fees would be covered at a community college if you are OK with gov assistance.

AP/CLEP exams are a way to earn credits too. They can also be a way to skip Family Is Evil 101, Maxists R Us 102, It's Good To Sin 103 soft science general ed courses.

But 10% are saved, so that is pretty good is it not?  That is a higher proportion that the average Novus Ordo seminary I'd warrant.

I don't see why people going to hell is an excuse in and of itself for avoiding something.  Most people who are alive today go to hell.  Does that mean we should avoid the living?

The simple truth is that people often don't need to go to college and take degrees with no idea or a fanciful idea with what they will do to earn a living after that.  You need to go to college, if you want to pursue a career that needs a professional qualification but you don't if you are going to go into business, or the trades or one of many other professions.  If you start your own business it is near irrelevant whether you have letters after your name.  Silicon Valley firms have plenty of college drop outs.  Gates and Jobs both flunked out of college.  Ed Snowden only had a high-school qualification.

Loads of people are involved for example in sales and marketing of stuff.  There are no meaningful degrees in that.  If anyone waved their marketing degree in my face I would laugh at them.  Marketing only has one useful metric, that you sold stuff.  A college professor cannot teach you sales or marketing, they are things you learn by doing.

It is a waste of time and money to go there and get a degree and a load of debt to be qualified in Media Studies or the History of Art.  That is the problem.  Too many people with toilet roll degrees who only know enough to be dangerous and enter the workplace (or try to), with a head full of theories and ideas which are of no practical use to a business.  That is why young people are not getting hired today and older people are being asked to stay on a few years after retirement or come back under contract.

As with anything in life if you pursue your dreams you had better make sure that there is a realistic chance of turning them into something viable.  Otherwise you're gonna shoot yourself in the foot.

Those who recognize colleges as being institutions for the corruption and paganization of youth will not send children to them, especially not daughters, except in special circuмstances.

Someone who sends children to secular state schools despite having the means to forgo them should not comment on this matter, as he holds non-Catholic views on education.

One option worth considering for children is a life insurance policy.  I can't remember off the top of my head what the plan is called, but life insurance companies offer a plan where you can 'over pay' for the life insurance policy and the balance accuмulates in a fund in your childs name. When I was looking at them, the plans typically offered a pretty good rate of return (~8%/annum).  Also your child would have the benefit of the life insurance policy as well.  Then at a set age usually 18, 21, or 25 the balance of the fund is paid out to your child.  They could use it for education, even seminary or to start a family or whatever.  If you start them early when children are young, you can accuмulate a pretty decent chunk of change ($20-30K+ depending on your plan) for relatively cheap monthly premiums.  If you take a look at any major life insurance companies website they should have information on these plans.  This could be worth taking a look at, but the downside with these plans is that the money is 'locked' in and if you need to take it out before, you pay a severe penalty.

Luke