College can be in many fields including vocational training. The point is, acquiring skills necessary for any good job requires education & training. Even a one year college to become dental assistant requires considerable expenditure.
I have seen first hand some families with lots of kids, with none of them getting any financial assistance from parents. These kids have dreadful financial futures ahead of them. Both my kids graduated with highly marketable skills and both are student debt free.
I highly encourage some people to look into trades. There’s lots of ways to avoid debt that way, gain some great skills and be paid highly.