I just have a little 9 month old boy. I also still have one year left in college. My wife and I have paid our way through with our sweat and scholarships. I always knew my parents would help out if we needed it - but a certain prideful part of me didn't want their help.
I'm very thankful I will have no debt when I graduate from college. I don't think you should go into debt during school - even at a subsidized government rate - It's baggage you'll carry with you for a long time that is hindering your wealth-building potential. Also, to live on someone else's money (the government's) usually causes the recipient to be less..picky about what they spend their money on.
Above all, I want to teach my son and his future siblings how to work for what they want, avoid debt, save for a rainy day, and to live within their means. If they are doing that and they want to go to Harvard for an MBA I don't think I'd have a problem helping them out (theoretically, not saying I have 100k to drop
)
I plan on setting money aside in
my name for use with college tuition for my kids, just in case they need it. But I'm not going to let them know I have it for them. I want to teach them to make it on their own as my wife and I did: sweat + sweat + scholarship (sweat).
My two cents.