The financial aid process is horribly dysfunctional. Some loans, grants, etc, are based on financial need. There's expected family contribution (i.e. they assum

The financial aid process is horribly dysfunctional. Some loans, grants, etc, are based on financial need. There's expected family contribution (i.e. they assume your parents are going to cover part of your expenses). There's the PLUS loan that they give to parents, because of course parents should have to take out a loan to even begin to cover what the federal government expects them to pay. If your parent isn't going to pay for you to go to college, it can be unaffordable. I got screwed in 2008 when my mom was denied the PLUS loan. I tried talking to student financial services for advice. After talking to the dean of my college, I received a large grant in order to cover my senior year. I thought I wasn't screwed anymore, but I got screwed again because nobody told me that a whole other part of my financial aid, "need-based" aid would disappear because my parents are expected to pay so much, regardless of their ability to do so. After that I was still able to pick up a few more grants and scholarships. However, I ended up having to take out private loans to cover much of the rest. I very much do not recommend taking out a private loan to pay for college.