I graduated in 1992 and my state school (UIUC) cost around 4K year + 10K housing, easily worth it. Today it is 30,000. Still probably a pretty good deal. Over 2

I graduated in 1992 and my state school (UIUC) cost around 4K year + 10K housing, easily worth it. Today it is 30,000. Still probably a pretty good deal. Over 25 years, the cost probably rose by about the same as inflation. For schools that cost 100K+/year, parents would be better off taking the 400K and investing in the S&P 500 over those 4 years. Because of compounding, their child would never need to save a penny to have an outstanding retirement. If the money doubles around every 8 years (9% ish) and they retire in about 48 years, they get 6 doubles, so their 400K is worth approximately 25 million (in non inflation adjusted dollars)