Wife and I were fortunate in graduating from state flagships with a handful of engineering degrees debt free. As we planned our future with children we knew two things: our kids would not quality for needs based FA, and we also did not want them saddled with debt. So we invested wisely in 529’s (as did grandparents). Seventeen years later as our S was applying to colleges our message to him was to apply to where he though he could learn the most. It’s hard to put a value on a school. Is $250k too much? I don’t know, but it was not an issue in our particular case. Do I think it’s money well spent? Yes, actually I do.