This can also happen in high tech, when someone with very limited retirement savings has stock options that end up being worth something. I have seen a few people retire with nearly all of their “retirement” savings in non-tax-advantaged accounts.
In high tech I have seen people who were really at the top of their field work well into their 60’s with their primary job being to teach others. However, I have also seen people leave the field somewhere in their 40’s. I have even had rides to the airport where the cab driver was a retired software engineer who appeared to still be in their 40’s (and I was able to guess why they retired from software engineering in their 40’s).
If a family has $1,000,000 in savings and a fairly modest income from one person still working this can eliminate the possibility of need based aid. However, $1,000,000 in savings is only going to generate about $40,000 in annual income. This plus social security can be a reasonable retirement, but not much more than a reasonable retirement, particularly if you need to retire before your reach medicare age (eg, medical insurance can be quite expensive before you qualify for medicare).
In some situations you just do not attend Columbia. This of course brings up the question that @parentologist asks: Do you have less expensive options?