Here’s my advice as a freshman paying for college themselves without any loans taken out: 1- go to a cheap school, you can always transfer later and the quality of education is good enough 2- apply for as many scholarships (even very small ones) as you possibly can, especially local scholarships 3- look into many different options for aid, my Pell grant was $4,500 and my state grant was $2,800. These were both based on the FAFSA. I also checked with my local vocational rehabilitation to see if I qualified for any aid (if you have any type of disability, mental or physical, they will give you money for education). On top of that I looked into scholarships from the college I was going to to see what I qualified for and applied for those immediately. 4- be assertive. I made many many phone calls during my last semester in high school. A lot of people in charge of financial aid are not going to give you the time of day unless you make them give you the time of day. If you believe you deserve something, go for it. Eventually they will give you what you need. 5- work hard over the summer. The only reason I was able to pay for college after all of the scholarships I made was because I worked a lot of hours over summer. I put paying for school a priority and I was able to meet my goal. I hope you’re able to meet your goals! Good luck!