My husband’s parents and my parents paid for our college educations. None of us went to grad school. Paying for our child’s college education is something we were committed to doing (we only have 1, so it maybe slightly easier to think about) because that’s just how our families were run. To us (whether true or not), have a degree will help our child’s future, so we should support that. We don’t qualify for any aid. We pay for housing (and things related to housing), we pay for dorm food/groceries (now), and tuition. She works during the summer/Winter Break (makes $2K), which pays for eating out, movies, gifts, road trips, etc.
Her plan is to go to grad school, and we would also pay for that, but that’s also because we have the means. I’m not sure what we would have done if we didn’t.