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[quote=Anonymous]The very first thing you need to do is estimate what your expected family contribution will be when your oldest is ready for college. Fill this out as if your oldest is a senior in high school:

http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml

This gives you an idea of what colleges will expect your family to pay per year for college. Know, however, that very few colleges guarantee to meet expected need--and colleges also differ in how they will estimate your need. Still, this gives you something to go by.

The other thing to know is the borrowing limits. Under federal rules, students can borrow up to $5500 for their first year of college, up to $6500 for the second year, and up to $7500 for each year beyond that, up to a maximum total of $31k. Beyond that, students will need a parent to borrow or to cosign for them. Many people believe it is reasonable to expect students to shoulder some of the burden of paying for college, but it is a mistake to borrow too much. One common guideline is that a student shouldn't borrow more for college (in total) than he/she can expect to make in their first job out of college. By that calculus, IMO borrowing a total of $20-$30k seems reasonable.

The paths your children take depend on too many factors for people to give advice without much more information. Can you afford your EFC? Is it more or less than what your in-state public options cost? What kind of student are we talking about--a candidate for an elite college? or a B student? What kind of degree is the student seeking (engineering, liberal arts, accounting, teaching)? Are you willing to have your child borrow money and if so, how much? Do you have a quality community college nearby with a proven path to a four-year college? (Not an issue in the DCUM area, but very much an issue in some areas.) etc. etc. etc.[/quote]

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