Kids future education expenses

Although to DBS, in Singapore public universities, a four-year undergraduate program costs on average S$40,000 for Singapore Citizen students. This is approximately a third higher than what it was 10 years ago, and does not include other miscellaneous fees. 

My eldest kid is 6 yrs old. Assuming the cost is 20 yrs away, the cost is 40k x 1.33 (1st 10 yr) x 1.33 (2nd 10 yr) = ~71k. Since I have 3 kids, I estimate that their university fees will be $71k x 3 = $213k.

The DBS article further says "If you’re thinking of sending your child to an overseas university in Australia, the UK or America, the fees charged by universities are markedly higher, ranging from S$16,000 to an eye-watering $86,000 per year. Factor in student accommodation, living costs and flights, and the amount could reach $100,000 for a single academic year, which is just about enough to wonder if you will ever retire."

I had this conversation with J before, on whether we should sponsor the kids' university education. Her parents sponsored her education while my parents sponsored mine partially, maybe 10% and I took a education loan for the rest which I started to repay when I started working. I had assumed then that most people paid for their university this way, and did not see anything wrong. I still do not see anything wrong.

She told me that she felt we should sponsor the kids' university fees. I asked her whether we sponsor a engineering (cheap) degree or a medical (expensive!) degree. Her reply was "How do we tell the kid that we only sponsor engineering and not medical degree right?" At that time, I was wondering if I will ever retire.

Later on, I had other thoughts as well. Do I want my kids to study overseas, to experience overseas living, better job prospects etc? 

After some research, I decided that our universities (NUS, NTU) had very good ranking, and I should not spend much more in getting them to study overseas! Hopefully, what I can give them then, is their own financial independence then. The money saved by getting a local education can go towards that.

-H