<p>We have a 2 income family with taxable income of around 119,000, and only around $12,000 in our savings account. I don’t think anyone at our income level has 30 grand sitting around every year. We did save, but used it up the first year – no middle class person can save the entire cost of 4 years of college! We own a home and have retirement accounts, but other than that no other assets, and we spent our son’s UFund on last year’s tuition. Our EFC is almost $30,000. I think the assumption is that you must borrow to send your child to a private college. We borrowed some last year using a PLUS loan and will this year. The payments are less overwhelming than spending that amount of cash up front, and the interest is tax deductible. I do not recommend spending retirement money on your child’s tuition! Any withdrawal will be considered as income for next year and will further hurt your eligibility for financial aid. You can always borrow for your child’s education, but you can’t borrow for retirement. The only other option is to send your son or daughter to a state school or community college that is more affordable.</p>