I am from a financially unstable family that could not afford to pay for my education (though I know that if they could have, they would have.) I've relied on student loans, scholarships and grants to get through. Even with all of that, I've had to work two part time jobs per year in order to stay comfortable. I could have gotten by without working, but it would have been pretty tight. When I graduate, I will probably have about $60,000-70,000 in debt, owed to the government.

If I were a parent, I would probably have my children pay for their education themselves (through scholarships, loans, and grants) and then help them pay off whatever they owe when they're finished, to the best of my ability. I think that if they at least *think* that they're going to have to pay back their own debts, they will likely take the incentive to be more responsible with their budgeting. If it were a choice between me paying for it or my children not going to university however (ie: if they didn't qualify for aid/loans), and I knew they wanted to go, I would do my best to pay for it.