College is the number one concern for perhaps most pilots? I personally don't think so. At least that's not what I hear in cockpits but perhaps you have data I don't have. My kids won't be spending that kind of money on college...and even if they did, 100k for four years of education and housing and food actually sounds pretty reasonable - is that estimate all inclusive after figuring in scholarships and all the peripherals, or just your estimate on the street price of tuition? I do hear a lot of pilots say they want to pay for everything so as not to burden their children with an obligation to work their way through college or take on any student debt. That wasn't the experience I ever had, nor most of my friends and family. That seems like a luxury to me, not some sort of obligation - and many folks don't feel obligated to protect their then adult children from all the unfairness of our economic and private/public education systems. I fly with plenty of parents whose children are starting or completing paths to trade careers and everyone involved seems very content. Our society sends plenty of messages in the direction of my children, but it's my messaging (for me, yours for yours) that ultimately matters.

I disagree that in-basers and commuters share enough desires that all rotations should serve all needs. I really like a 12-hour 2-day with an early sign in and late checkout, or some 8-hour 1-days that aren't commutable front or back. I imagine those stink for commuters?

Are there a lot of people bellyaching that there are overnights? I don't hear these complaints in the cockpit or on layovers. Seems like a straw man argument or a complaint against an anonymous internet poster or two....I think the complaint is a whole schedule of non-commutable trips, and the way the system strings them together, which can yield a bunch of otherwise UNNECESSARY nights away from home. At least that's what I perceive as a common complaint but I don't try to speak for the masses.