No tears here, but another story from the naked city.
We have about $350K HH income, two kids in college, not a penny of financial aide, living in one of the most expensive areas of the country (because that's where the jobs are), nice but not ostentatious house worth less than we paid for it (lost $700K in equity thanks to the crooks on Wall St).
Net of taxes, 401k contributions, insurance, etc. etc, we take home about $160K. 40% of that goes to mortgage and property taxes.
It wasn't easy, but we saved $120K for college. This covered the first year for each kid. By the time the kids graduate we'll have about $375K in loans which will take a decade to pay off.
No denying that we live very well, but without grants or scholarships of any kind the cost of college is a huge bite, one that will keep me working years longer than I'd like to.