Our HHI is 300K.

We have prepaid MD tuition for both of our kids (5 years each). In addition, we will also pay no more than $50 K for each child per year, for 8 years of college each. We did not apply for any aid whatsoever, though DC1 got full merit scholarship for undergrad. We expect the same for DC2 next year. We were clear that kids could either go to state or Ivy and we would pay for it.

We have finite ability to finance their college and it is on them to maximize their education dollars. Our expectation is that they will incur minimal education debt and will complete graduate or professional school after their undergrads.

We also expect them to study something that will get them high paying and secure jobs (Yeah, I know. Shoot us!). So, we would not finance undergrad in Art Appreciation in an Ivy school. Their choice in such a case would be to use the prepaid tuition only and make what they want out of that.

The whole other part of this is that even if one's EFC is say $20k/year, the financial aid you receive may not match that at all. Our EFC was about that and there was about another $10/yr that we would have had to come up with at the private colleges because our son's fin'l aid packages left about $30k on the table for family responsibility, notwithstanding that the EFC showed we could pay about $20k/yr. Nothing complicated with our fafsa - no complicated investments, second homes, personal businesses, etc. Two fed workers here who also live very modestly and can't afford much beyond instate for our kids.