Look beyond the $90,000 price tag

I have a kid who will be in college in a couple of years. My family has been putting money into the state’s U.Plan for more than a decade, but what we’ve managed to save so far — a significant sum, for us — would cover but a sliver of tuition at a private school, let alone living expenses. But that’s what a bunch of New England colleges will be charging now. As a middle class parent hoping to avoid subsisting on dog food in my golden years, I felt...