text: why do so many people expect their parents to pay for college? i know people who are having a fit because their parents wont pay for them to go to college. i understand why the parents wouldn't want to pay. they have to worry about their retirement. i don't understand why young people don't realize that when they turn 18 their parents don't owe them a thing. exactly! it's called responsibility, if their parents pay for everything, than they won't learn how to handle living on their own ever.