Here’s an interesting look at what people think are parents’ financial obligations to kids.
The moral of the story is that if one institution is offering you a lean package of post-secondary education services and another institution is offering you a costlier bundle of post-secondary education services with housing, recreational facilities, and other activities you’d be well-advised to take the more expensive bundle. For the same reasons, if you’re a vendor of post-secondary education services the smart move is to invest energy and financial resources in figuring out how to bundle more stuff with your core product. Not only is the bundle eligible for various kinds of government subsidies, the social consensus is that parents should help kids buy the bundle but don’t have a free-floating obligation to boost their kids’ consumption.