High risk high reward strategy. College is very much the conservative route. Question every parent needs to ask (since kids are too young to make those types of decisions, as we've discussed in other contexts) is am I gambler and do I want to gamble my kid. Yes, there's stuff they can do to control the outcome: if the kid is high skilled, high IQ, high dedication, high training. Still, as anyone whose encountered an ACL tear can tell you, you can't control for everything. Still, without the dreamers, life would be boring.....