Yeah, I was lucky enough to have my parents pay for college but I also think they did it the "right" way. They made it clear that the money was for my undergraduate education first, and then whatever I wanted. When we looked at schools, my mom would point out how much I'd have leftover and remind me how far the remainder could go for a down payment on a house or further education.

They also gave me access to the account upfront, which wouldn't work for some teens but they were good enough parents that I never considered blowing it all on something stupid. It was in mature or almost mature bonds, rather than just a pile of cash, which helped.

Once I picked my school, each semester I'd call the bank and ask for 1-2 of the bonds to be cashed out, and then, once it was, write my own tuition check. There's nothing like writing a check for 50k of "your money" when you're 19 and have 1k in personal savings. And it gave me more independence to make decisions about my academic career, I studied abroad 3x in 3.5 years (two summers and a semester). My mom questioned in the second summer and I explained that if I did this, I could graduate a semester early and actually save money. Which I did. I also explained that this second summer abroad would set me up for a better semester abroad experience because I could do the internship abroad program rather than just study. Which it did, and I went straight from that internship to an actual job.

It was the best thing they could have done for me.