Parents don’t have any choice in the matter. As long as college is required to get most good jobs, and going to a prestigious college is all-but-required to get the best jobs or in to law, business or medical school, parents will have to pay that tuition if they can afford it.
There is every chance that the upper middle class American lifestyle will become available to fewer people over time, as more jobs are exposed to overseas competition. This will further reduce parents’ luxury of attaching ideological conditions to their children’s education. It’s one thing to choose (say) a Baptist college over Vanderbilt when one can argue that life chances are equivalent for their grads, but quite another if the former significantly increases the risk of being trapped in $15/hour no-benefit jobs.
It is possible to make a lot more than $15/hr and to be capable of providing for your own *benefits* in any of the trades: plumbing/electrician, for example. Medical technician jobs, physical therapy, general accounting all pay more than $15/hr and only need a technical education or perhaps a 4 year general college degree.
I am over 60, did not complete college, have had my own business for for over 40 years and today earn a net over at least double, sometimes more, than the quoted $15/hr. Ditto for my husband. Paying your own health insurance is not that onerous if you take a catastrophic policy, have an HSA and don’t run to the doctor for every sniffle. As it is, anyone with severe medical conditions will be dropped by their insurance at renewal time or have the premium raised too high for even a large employer to pay.
I have watched several friends lose their pensions and retirement health benefits just because the company/union can no longer afford the costs or the company goes belly up and the pension is reassigned to a government agency.
It is a myth that an elite university is essential to a decent lifestyle. We have lived on our own, self-employed, for over 40 years. We are 3 1/2 years away from being free and clear on our property ( a very small payment for a construction/remodeling loan), have assets, savings, investments, all of which could be wiped out in a financial downturn, just like that of everyone else, regardless of what sort of degree someone may have. The only real security is the ability to take care of yourself and the real means of production are your own two hands, your brain and your energy.
Parents and children have choices, but they take some creativity and some acceptance of obvious risk rather than ignoring the inherent risk present in working for any boss/corporation or in any profession. Doctors and lawyers can get way over their heads financially, just like anyone else. We have way too many lawyers, as it is and as one MBA once told me, that degree allows someone to run any business, but not necessarily to start one.
Of course, there is always government as the secure employer of last resort. One thing we have noticed in our travels, especially in the developing nations, is that government employees outnumber all others. In exchange for the security, one gives up a lot of personal freedom and integrity. I have relatives in very liberal places who work for city or state governments, but who have absolutely no idea how to perform even the simplest maintenance of their home/car/possessions. Their good health insurance does not necessarily mean good health and while their benefits are contractual, there are always ways for an employer to get around paying everything that was promised.
Until the college accrediting monopoly is busted, colleges (and the entire government education establishment) will continue to hold people over the barrel. I college degree should represent mastery of the intended subject, but today, it merely represents that the holder of the degree has endured 4+ years of socialist/liberal indoctrination with a few tidbits of useful knowledge sprinkled in for good measure.