This is a subject very near and dear to my heart. College is one of the biggest things I feel like I missed out on in my youth. I had almost straight A's all through high school and had every opportunity to win scholarships, and even had some offered as early as 5th grade, but my father would have heard of no such thing. I was going to be a missionary anyways, I was told, so why even waste time on that?
Anyways, we talk about college almost constantly. All three of our kiddos have had college funds set up for three years now. I want them to have the assurance that they can persue whatever their dreams are. I'm sure by the time they're ready to leave for college (the oldest in in 4th grade) tuition will be astronomical, and we'll still look into scholarships, but at least that money's there to give them a boost up and a solid start.
We're fortunate though, in that by being residents in our state we recieve checks every year on profits from oil revenue. (Permanent Fund Dividend) Half of these checks go straight into their college funds every year.