Yours is the reality that most of us deal with. We have a finite amount of money to live on and use for this such as college for our kids. Many of us make enough to not qualify for FA and still manage to make decisions for our families that work.
I started saving for my kids college education the year they were born. It was a small sacrifice but it has paid off because those funds will provide the majority of money necessary for our instate flagship. It wouldn’t fund a high cost private college but my kids will get a great education for a bargain anyways.
It’s amazing to me that more people don’t think about these things when their kids are younger. It would be much more painful to have to come up with college dollars now or to saddle my kids or myself with student loans. Finances certainly does come into play when choosing a college to attend.