(I often hear the argument that people just dont make as much today as they used to. For example, in the 50's on parent working full time could buy a house and a car and put two kids through college. Today, by comparison, it would take both parents working full time to do this. But if you compare apples to apples, in todays society, especially in America, we buy more then we need and can afford. Parents feel they must have a 2,000 sq. ft. house in a developement, drive two SUV's, each kid has a car of thier own, and they have to go off to very expensive private schools. The equivalent today of the 50's example would be one parent working full time while the other (mother or father or partner) staying home and raising children, driving two reasonable priced cars which last ten times as long as expensive cars did in the 50's, go to community college for two years costing a few thousand dollars and then going of to a state school and getting a respected decent education on a single parents income. Anyway, here is a good article about the real cost of college... - Mike)

The real cost of college
A parents' guide to paying for school

By Adriane Berg From MoneyCentral

Concerned parents
start worrying about
paying for their
child's college
education almost at
the moment of their
child's birth.

A college education
is expensive and frightening, but
with some forethought about
what school your child might
attend, you can afford it.

Stocks are a fashionable baby
gift. Even the federal government
wised up. They now promote
their famous E Bond program,
which allows parents to receive
the interest, or capital gain,
tax-free if the proceeds are used
to pay for college tuition (and
parents' joint annual income does
not exceed $60,000 at time of
matriculation).

The high cost of higher
education

For years, college costs have
risen at rates higher than
inflation. Those rates have fallen
somewhat in recent years
because of a public backlash and
several years of relatively modest
inflation.

But the fact remains that a
four-year college education can
cost more than $100,000. It's
frightening, even if the parents
started saving early on in their
children's lives.

But can things really be that
bad? Won't every qualifying
student go to college if he or she
wants to? The answer is yes, but
without proper planning, these
students may have to
compromise on the school they
attend. Many Ivy League schools,
including Harvard and Yale, do
not give any non-needs-based
scholarships. An academically
qualifying student who is not
eligible for needs-based aid, and
whose parents have not saved
wisely, simply cannot attend.

The real cost of college

To meet your educational goals,
you have to get a firm picture of
the real cost of the colleges your
child might attend. Colleges now
cost, on average, about $20,000
a year, according to recent
surveys. The average cost drops
to about $8,500 when only
publicly owned colleges and
universities are considered.

But judging what college will cost
based on cumulative averages is
like buying your personal
wardrobe based on the average
size of people your age and
height. It's not much help.

To get a more precise picture,
you need to think about which
school your child might attend. If
your child is in the ninth grade or
higher, select eight schools she
or he may realistically attend and
ask the office of admissions for
the current cost.

A mixed bag of prices

The differences in prices will
astound you. For example, as of
this year, tuition at Chapman
University in Orange, Calif., is
$17,902. Charles Drew University
in Los Angeles runs $3,510, while
Yale University charges $21,000
and Ivy League rival Harvard
weighs in at $20,865.

Typically, parents feel depressed
once they see how much college
will cost. Many think they will
have to bear the burden by
siphoning away from their
hard-earned savings accounts or
by taking out second mortgages
on their homes.

This is not necessarily so. The
average cost of college once your
child receives various types of
financial aid makes it possible to
pay for college without declaring
bankruptcy. For example, the
$19,300 it costs to attend
Hartwick College in Oneonta,
N.Y., falls to $9,075 with the
average aid package offered to
its students. Princeton
University's $22,000 price tag
drops to $10,435 with their aid
programs.

Recent surveys report that the
average family pays 30 percent of
the typical public college costs.

So, you don't have to give up
hope, just a few vacations.