How do I pay for college?

Thinking about paying for college and planning a career can seem overwhelming, so know that you’re not alone if you feel a bit lost. Take a deep breath. It’s understandable that you may have only a vague idea of what you want to study in college, or what path to follow to achieve your goals (if you even know what they are yet). But sorting all of that out is part of growing up — and you’ll be better prepared to make decisions if you learn about different types of colleges, how much they cost and the process for paying those costs. And the earlier you start, the better.

In the United States, high school students are, unfortunately, asked to make decisions about financing college that can affect their lives for years to come. By studying up on how student loans work, for example, you can make an informed choice about whether, and how much, to borrow, which can have a long-term impact on your finances. Here are some books that can help: “The Price You Pay for College,” by Ron Lieber, a New York Times columnist; and “Who Gets In and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions,” by Jeffrey Selingo.

It’s a lot, but take it a step at a time and you’ll be better prepared for a complicated process.

— Ann Carrns

This is a tricky question to answer because it requires some projection. But the more you save — and the earlier you start — the less you’ll have to borrow later. And there are some helpful calculators that can help you get started.

In an ideal scenario, parents would open up a 529 college savings account and set up an automatic savings plan immediately after their children make their debut into the world.

But how much should you shuttle into such an account each month? Let’s say, for example, a four-year public college in your home state costs $100,000.

It may be less stressful to think about covering the cost in a few distinct pieces: For the first chunk, hopefully your parents have saved roughly one-third of this amount over the first 18 years of your life. (If they haven’t, you may have to adjust your expectations and more deeply explore the least expensive pathways to a four-year degree.)

The next piece can be paid while you’re attending college (ideally by you and your parents), and the final chunk can be covered by borrowing — dependent students can generally borrow up to $31,000 from the federal government.

If you haven’t started saving or feel like you don’t have enough time to make a large enough dent, there are also ways to contain your costs, including starting at a community college.

— Tara Siegel Bernard

Higher education is costly for a lot of reasons. For starters, professors are highly educated and colleges must pay competitive salaries to attract good ones. Colleges also employ administrators to run career offices and other student services, and to make sure the school complies with laws — such as Title IX, a federal civil rights law that requires colleges to provide equal opportunity to women and men in sports, among other things.

At the same time, colleges compete for prospective students with perks like well-appointed gyms, cafeterias and comfortable dorms. State financial support for public colleges tends to shrink when the economy suffers, so many have had to increase tuition and fees to cover costs (although state support is rebounding).

Still, college may not be as outrageously expensive as it appears. Most students don’t actually pay the full cost of attendance — the sticker price — that colleges post on their websites, according to Phillip Levine, an economics professor at Wellesley College who has studied college pricing. The downside? Because the sticker price looks so high, some students may skip applying altogether. Levine has founded a nonprofit that offers an online tuition cost estimator to help families see the true price they may pay at a given college.

— Ann Carrns

The federal government offers three types of financial help to college students: grants, which are gifts that you don’t have to pay back; student loans, which you must repay; and work-study money, which you earn from part-time jobs while you attend school. Many states also offer their own loans, grants and scholarships, and colleges and private groups offer financial help as well.

— Ann Carrns

Estimating how much aid you might qualify for can be complex, but the two most important factors are your academic track record and the amount you can afford to pay, which is based on your family’s income and other financial resources. Some private colleges also increasingly weigh not only how much families are able to pay, but also how much they are willing to pay.

Federal college aid is largely based on financial need, as calculated by a form called the FAFSA, which stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Colleges and private groups may also help based on need, and they may give out merit aid or financial assistance based on your grades or your talent in sports or other activities. Many nonprofit groups also offer scholarships, and they typically set their own rules for choosing recipients.

— Ann Carrns

The FAFSA has a funny sounding name, but it’s seriously important when it comes to paying for college.

The FAFSA is a form that students must file every year they attend college to qualify for any sort of federal financial aid, including grants (which you don’t have to pay back) and loans (which you do).

You may have already heard about the FAFSA because more states are making high school seniors complete it in order to graduate. The reason? Research shows that students who do so are much more likely to immediately enroll in college.

The form gathers financial details about you and your family (assuming you’re a dependent who relies on adults for housing and living expenses), including income and assets, like savings accounts and investments. Federal aid experts say most people can fill out the form in less than an hour, including the time it takes to gather bank statements and other documents, but give yourself extra time when you’re doing it for the first time. Most people file the form online because you can transfer income tax information electronically from the IRS.

Next, the form runs all your information through a complex formula and spits out a number that, the government says, reflects your family’s “financial strength,” or an estimate of what you and your family might be able to pay for college. The number is called the SAI, for student aid index. The lower the number, the more aid you are likely to qualify for.

Colleges and universities that receive your FAFSA (you choose where it is sent) subtract the SAI from the cost of attending the school for a year, including tuition, housing, meals, books and supplies, to see how much financial aid you might need to attend. Then, they send you an aid “package” that shows how much financial help you qualify for, and what the cost would be if you enrolled.

If the cost of attendance is $16,000 and your SAI is $12,000, you would be eligible for $4,000 in need-based aid.

— Ann Carrns

A new version of the FAFSA comes out each year, and you have to fill it out each year you want to receive federal aid. The updated version is usually available in October.

It’s usually best to fill out the FAFSA as soon as you can after it posts online. Many states set priority deadlines for their aid, which is given out based on the FAFSA, early in the new year. You may still receive aid if you file after your state’s deadline, but often it’s “first come, first served.”

— Ann Carrns

Maybe. The CSS Profile is a lengthy form that students complete to seek financial help for college, but it’s different from the FAFSA, and whether you have to fill it out depends on where you apply. Not all colleges use the CSS Profile, but several hundred — mostly private colleges and universities — require it to assess whether you qualify for institutional aid, meaning the school’s own money, rather than government help.

The College Board, the private group that oversees the SAT, administers the form. Be prepared: It asks even more detailed questions than the FAFSA and it’s not free. It costs $25, plus fees for each additional school you select to receive your form, although you may be able to have the cost waived based on your income.

— Ann Carrns

A grant is financial aid that doesn’t have to be repaid, and is often given based on a student’s financial need. The federal government offers several types of grants, including Pell Grants — named for Claiborne Pell, the U.S. senator who sponsored the bill that eventually led to the creation of the Pell Grant program, which provides financial aid to undergraduate students who display exceptional need and have not earned a bachelor’s, graduate or professional degree. More information on other types of grants can be found at grants.gov. Generally, families with an income of less than $30,000 and limited assets qualify for the full Pell Grant. The maximum grant amount can change each year.

— Ann Carrns

Like grants, scholarships are also a type of gift aid that doesn’t need to be repaid. But scholarships are often given for classroom achievements; some states, for instance, may make them available based on your high school grades or your scores on the SAT or ACT. Companies and nonprofit groups may also give scholarships based on your success in various activities, your interest in a certain career or your personal background. (Some are given to women, first-generation college students or children of military families, for example.) Some scholarships are national, while others accept applications from certain cities or states, or from students whose parents work at certain employers.

— Ann Carrns

Start by checking with your high school guidance counselor, as well as the financial aid offices of colleges to which you apply. Your local library or state education agency can also help. There are many online scholarship search sites, like CareerOneStop.org from the Labor Department and BigFuture.collegeboard.org from the College Board. Just be sure you’re looking at a legitimate site. Be skeptical if an application has a fee; you shouldn’t have to pay to apply for a scholarship.

— Ann Carrns

Federal work-study aid is based on financial need and allows students to work part-time during the school year to earn cash for college expenses. The government and the college (or other employer) share the cost of paying you. Often, the jobs are on campus so you don’t have to travel far, and they may be related to your major. You apply for the program by filing the FAFSA, and if approved, you usually must find a job yourself; check with the campus employment office to see what’s available. The pay varies and hours are limited to avoid interfering with your school work. You may find a job that is not part of the work-study program and that pays more, but be careful about working too many hours. If you neglect your studies and your grades suffer, it may take you longer to graduate, which will add to your costs.

— Ann Carrns

A 529 college savings plan is a popular way to save and pay for a child’s higher education, including at eligible vocational schools (and these plans can also now be used for K-12 tuition). There are a lot of misconceptions about how the plan factors into a prospective student’s eligibility for financial aid. The bottom line: Its effect is surprisingly minimal.

First, the basics: These accounts are run by states and allow contributions to grow tax-free and be withdrawn free of tax as long as the money is used to pay for qualified expenses. As an added bonus, many states offer tax breaks on contributions.

Almost anyone can open a 529 account for a future student — named as the account beneficiary — and the plan is usually invested in a collection of diversified mutual funds. It’s usually wise to look at the plans offered in your state first since there may be state-level tax breaks. But you can generally invest in any state’s plan — that may make sense if your in-state plan doesn’t offer tax breaks, for example, or if it’s a high-cost or otherwise subpar plan. SavingforCollege.com has a map linking to the states’ various options.

Another group of 529 plans, called prepaid tuition plans, allow people to lock in today’s tuition rates for future use. But those plans are only open in roughly half a dozen states and can be more restrictive; most of them have state residency requirements.

— Tara Siegel Bernard

Paying for college on your own requires planning. You’ll probably need a combination of financial aid, including grants and scholarships; student loans; and money you earn or save yourself. Start early to explore scholarships you may be eligible for, and seek out groups that specialize in helping low-income and minority high school students, like uAspire and the National College Attainment Network. Be sure to submit the FAFSA as soon as you can when applying to college to see what sort of financial help you can get; you may want to consider working for a year before enrolling, to save up money. You could also consider attending a less expensive state school, or starting out at a community college and then transferring to a four-year college to complete your degree.

— Ann Carrns

Financial aid, whether in the form of grants or loans, can generally be used to pay for all college expenses including housing and meals. But in some cases, aid packages may fall short, leaving students to scrimp on basics like food and housing. Depending on where you attend college, you may be able to save money by sharing off-campus housing with roommates. And some colleges, aware of food insecurity among students, have started food banks or pantries offering free groceries, as well as programs to let students donate unused swipes from their meal plan cards to others.

— Ann Carrns