@lookingforward The donut hole is not going away. The future will likely be worse for the UMC as a global pool of truly wealthy people who are willing to pay even more to attend elite schools push them out.
So there needs to be an adaptation. Let the kids know how long it takes to save a quarter of a million dollars for the schools. Assuming you are UMC perhaps discuss the idea of opportunity cost. You’re going to give them a quarter of a million dollars. Do you want to spend all of it at college X or do you want to spend part of it at college Y and…
A. Put a sizeable down payment ( this is what that means for your future lifestyle/mortgage)
B. Start your financial portfolio (and explain what that means for your student’s future)
C. Spend a year traveling the world
D. Etc., etc.
The idea is that things will likely not get better for the UMC and you go into your choices eyes wide open