When I was setting off for college, my father told me "We can’t promise you an inheritance, but we can make sure you have an excellent college education. My four siblings and I all attended excellent colleges (three were UC’s, two were private). None of us had scholarship money. We did work during the summers and used some of those funds to spend on incidentals at college. My parents took on no debt. My father was an engineer. Tuition at the private colleges was on the order of $2,000 per year the first year. These days, the tuition is probably 25 times that amount.
When our two kids were approaching college applications, we paid the promise forward. They could attend the college of their choice (of course we advised and helped in the selection process), and we expected them to work during summers to pay some of the incidental costs. They both attended private institutions. One had a modest NMS award (REALLY modest: $1,000); the other had no institutional award. We ended up without debt, however, because we had saved (in an era prior to 529’s and the like, and because the grandparents (my parents) also gifted them with some money earmarked for college.
Ours was an intergenerational transfer of opportunity. The kids satisfied this priority: you can major in anything, but you must graduate in 4 years.