We are not financially some place where we could pay for our kids' college, nor would we foot the entire bill even if we could. There is something I personally see missing in most of my peers, even the highly successful ones, that didn't have any financial skin in their college educations. There are just life experiences they missed out on, which has affected them in later life. It's hard to name, it's just a real-world experience thing they miss which makes its harder for them to see things from certain perspectives or to exercise certain problem solving skill sets. Parents can likely pay for college without shorting their kids on this sort of experience, but it takes a mindful parent to do so (likely a mustachian, that has the time to provide more guidance during their children's upbringing, as opposed to the standard two-income, 50+ hour a week parent).
It's also hard because I know first hand how impossible it can be when parents provide zero support, as well, including refusal to even fill out a FAFSA, thus leaving a child with no choice but to forgo education or take out loans. It took me 20 years after high school to begin affording my own college education. We struck what we hope is a happy balance between extremes with our kids.
Fortunately, there are ways to pay for a world class education without chipping in cash ourselves. We helped our eldest navigate state programs to earn free tuition, but the effort was up to him. He does qualify for some grants, thanks to having lower income parents, but all the other grants and scholarships (including a one he just earned that will cover books for the next two years) were earned via his own hard academic and extracurricular work. At this point, he will graduate in two years with a BA and no debt, and he plans to go for a post grad degree in education. Younger one is still a few years out from college, but he has begun navigating some of the state program requirements and in the next two years, as his post high school plans solidify, will begin looking into scholarship and grant applications.
I like to think we are gifting our children with the knowledge and skills to achieve a debt-free or low-debt education, but requiring that they do the hard academic work and bureaucracy navigation work needed to earn it. These skills may be even more important than the education itself, since much of a successful adult life depends on realistic creative problem solving. We do provide free living at home as long as they are pursuing their degree/certification/whatever they opt for, and we do our damndest to cover any books and supplies not covered by other funding so they don't have to work long hours or take out a loan to afford them.