If you have 3 kids in college all attending $$ schools even with aid, can you afford it? That is what drives your application process. IMO pay off any debt, because that is just good sense if you might be unemployed/business disaster/health disaster etc. if you are @ AGI of 200K, run NPCs on generous schools and see that it is still unaffordable if you have no college savings. Some schools look at home equity.