Another popular way to save for college are Coverdell accounts, which are tax-advantaged trusts created exclusively for paying the qualified education expenses of the trust's designated beneficiary. 

They have contribution limits as well as income limits for participants.

Munro says, “The downside of a Coverdell is that you can’t really send your kid to college putting in $2,000 a year. And it’s a student asset, not a parent asset, so when it comes to financial aid that’s a problem.”

Another consideration, particularly as parents continue to have children well into middle age, is that you may be robbing your retirement to fund your child’s college education, and this is never a good idea.

“You can always borrow for college, you can’t borrow for retirement,” says Munro. “Make sure that you are funding your retirement at adequate levels. When you lack in retirement savings, you’re talking about eating dog food.”

Even if the amount you’re saving is not enough, rest assured that there are many parents who believe that paying the full freight for college really isn’t good for children.

“We're not specifically saving for our kids' educations. My parents didn't for me, and I still have a BA,” says Meera Collier-Mitchell, the Boulder Creek, California, mother of a four-year-old and a toddler.

“I expect my kids to want to go to college enough to figure out a way to make it possible—whether it's through work, scholarships, or whatever will be available eighteen years from now. I do expect to shoulder some of the bill, but I expect to do it the same way my parents did: paying what I can afford, but not giving them a free ride. If my kids don't want to make their own education possible, then they should wait for college until they're ready,” she says.

Whether your goal is to shoulder the entire financial burden of your child's college education, or to lend a helping hand (or pocketbook, as the case may be!), your actions and foresight today may mean all the difference in opening doors to your child's future.

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