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Planning to go away or to start college is a fun and exciting time for those students who are planning on attending. The stressful part usually comes from finding the resources to pay for your college education. It is important that you and your parents plan out together how much money you are going to need for college and where the money will come from to cover your college expenses. You will need to sit down with a pad of paper and a pen in order to write everything out. The earlier you start planning, the better. This way if you or your parents need to make adjustments, you can do so before it is time for you to head off your freshmen year.

Figure out your costs:

1.Tuition & Books: Contact the colleges and/or universities that you are interested in attending. Ask specifically about the estimated costs for tuition and books. Usually the estimate of these costs is provided in the college brochure.

2. Housing: If you are planning on living on-campus, you will also need to obtain housing information. Housing information should include the cost and what the cost includes. Some colleges and universities offer meal plans to students who live on-campus, which provides you with a certain amount of money to eat at the campus restaurants, cafeteria and cafes. If you are planning on living off-campus, you will need to do a little research on the average cost of rent for the area. Also be sure to include extra costs such as electric, phone, water, etc.

3. Food: You have to eat, so be sure to include spending money for food in your calculations.

4. Spending money: College is more than just academics. There are student activities that you are going to want to participate in throughout the semester. Be sure to allocate a certain amount of money to spend on going out with friends, going to the movies, participating in a sorority or fraternity, etc.

5. Tally up your costs on an annual basis and then be sure to multiply the annual cost by how many years it is going to take you to complete your particular major. Usually, 4 years is the number you will need to multiply by, unless you already know that you will be going to on to graduate school, law school, medical school, etc. If that is the case, you will need to go through the same 5 steps for the costs involved with these types of schools (adding it to your undergraduate college costs).

Tapping Into Your Resources:

Once you have an idea of what the cost of your college education is going to be now it is time to list out all of the possible resources that you can tap into to pay for everything. You will need to sit down with your parents and go over all of these costs that you have tallied. Find out from them what source of funds they have and are willing to contribute. You may also have some resources of your own that you can contribute.

Here is a list of possible resources to consider:

1. Savings or Investment Accounts
2. Pre-paid College Tuition Program
3. Education IRA, ROTH IRA, or Retirement IRA
4. Savings Bonds
5. Contributions from Grandparents or other family members
6. Scholarships*
7. Grants*
8. Student Loans*

*You may not know the contribution amount of these resources yet.

After you have a list of your possible fund sources and the total amount that each resource can provide, total everything up. Where does this leave you? Do you have enough to cover your college education or are in the hole? If you are in the hole, then you should come up with a plan on how you and your parents can make up for the difference. Research scholarship and grant opportunities that you may be able to qualify for or pick-up a part-time job after school to help contribute to your college savings. Your guidance counselor at school and the Internet should be able to help you find scholarships and grants that you may be eligible for. Especially, if it is your senior year of high school, contact the financial aid department of the college you will be attending. Find out when they deadline is and what forms you have to complete to apply for financial aid.

There are resources available to you for paying for your college education. Just be organized and diligent about finding out what the costs are, what resources you have available to you, and whether or not you to find additional resources to cover your college expense.