Financial Answer Center

Despite all your good intentions, you may not be able to save enough to meet the tuition and room and board bills when your child starts college. In fact, many people do borrow to pay for college.

Call the Federal Student Aid Information Center 1-800-433-3243 and request the free Funding Education Beyond High School: The Guide to Federal Student Aid on government loans and grants for all the details. You can also get a copy from their Web site at www.studentaid.ed.gov. We've consolidated some of that information (see the section Federal Loans and Grants) to make it easy for you to compare the loans.

We recommend that you consult each of these sources and go through the process to determine (1) if you qualify and (2) how much they will lend to you.