Not all parents plan to pay for grad school (I won’t). But even without it, agree that assets in retirement accounts are usually protected (but the withdrawals are treated as income).
Then…these students should not be attending $60,000 plus a year colleges. If the family doesn’t have the resources to pay for this…look for less costly colleges. There are plenty of them.
At 3%…that $1 million will earn $30,000 a year interest too…so don’t forget that part.
Basically, this student needs to attend a FAFSA only school, most likely a state University, probably the flagship if they can (better funding, better universities) unless there’s another public university that’s known for its arts program (such as Purchase in NYS v. SB/Bing/Geneseo/Buff).
"Then…these students should not be attending $60,000 plus a year colleges. "
Exactly!
Kid just needs a defined budget. No way is any of this stuff a surprise to her dad. International professionals often have defined benefits pension in addition to any IRA/401K/savings/brokerage/share incentives and health benefits in retirement etc. Time for a come to jesus meeting with the 'rents. Hopefully, OP is a junior and this is just the opening salvo.