Originally Posted by JonLaw
However, if you don't flood your progeny with massive amounts of liquidity, aren't you essentially guaranteeing failure?

A recent study has found that beyond a certain level, parental transfers to college students can hurt their grades:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/...tal-support-college-results-lower-grades
Spoiled Children
January 14, 2013 - 3:00am
Inside Higher Education
By Scott Jaschik

Quote
Much discussion about higher education assumes that the children of wealthy parents have all the advantages, and they certainly have many. But a new study reveals an area where they may be at a disadvantage. The study found that the more money (in total and as a share of total college costs) that parents provide for higher education, the lower the grades their children earn.

The findings -- particularly grouped with other work by the researcher who made them -- suggest that the students least likely to excel are those who receive essentially blank checks for college expenses.

The study -- "More Is More or More Is Less?" -- is by Laura Hamilton, an assistant professor in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts at the University of California at Merced, and was just published by the American Sociological Review (abstract available here), the flagship journal of the American Sociological Association.