I know of a father of three daughters who is paying for their daughters to “learn a trade”. This way they are not dependent on a company’s whims if the economy buckles at any time, rather can “sell” their skill on their own......That does not mean they wouldn’t work for a company...but secures them to go it solo if the nation takes a nose dive.
My husband & I will be doing something similar. Hubby is an experienced welder/machinist, as well as being a mechanical engineer. He’s already planning to teach all of our girls as soon as they are big enough to fit a welder’s mask. :)
We’re also trying to make sure our girls have a solid homeschool academic background, so they can CLEP/test out of many of the liberal arts classes, so no need to spend money on those.
Finally, we will strongly encourage community college for the first 2 years, if they want to go to college at all.
We aren’t actively saving for their college; we decided it was more important to save for our senior years, to help protect the kids from having to worry about two elderly parents and college at the same time. It’s a lot easier to work your butt off at 19 than at 70!