When you are trying to find money for college, you have to first look for free money. These are called grants, and these are amounts are yours to keep for your education. You will never have to pay back grants, but you may be limited in what you can use them for. In many cases, this money is sent to your school directly, and you wonít be able to use this money for college for anything other than tuition. Other grants may be for books and supplies, or in some rare cases, for living expenses.
You will probably find that grants will not over all of your needs. You then have to think about applying for loans made just to supply money for college. These loans can be taken out by your parents or by you. There are rules that apply however. You may not be able to get a loan in your own name if you are still considered to be under your parents care. Your schoolís financial aid office will be able to give you applications to different places that supply loans for money for college. They can also help you out with the rules and filling out the forms.
If you have small children, you may want to start putting away money for college as soon as you can. My daughter has a few different savings accounts, and one of these is especially for money for college. She may not be able to entirely pay for her college education this way, but it will be a big help when the time comes. Not only will she not have to worry about repaying huge student loan debts, I wonít either. I will do everything I can to help her, and I think saving before hand is the best way to do it. The earlier you start the better, but that doesnít mean you canít make a difference if you start when the are older.