With college cost increases consistently outpacing inflation, preparing to pay for tuition, room, board, and associated expenses has become a monumental challenge for most families. Use our tuition savings calculator to estimate future tuition and how much you'll need to save to cover it. Even at public colleges, students and their families are paying an ever-greater share of the total cost of attendance.
Many parents count on help from scholarships.
But the highly competitive admissions environment at most colleges and universities makes scholarship money a precious commodity. Today, in fact, financial aid usually means various institutional or government loans programs that may leave your graduate with a diploma in one hand, and a long loan repayment schedule in the other.