<prompt> Human: So Im in a little bit of a pickle right now. Ive narrowed down my list of universities that I want to attend, and my number one choice is an out of state university with tuition of 52k a year. As for my In state university choices go, my best choice would be University of Michigan, but with my current grades 3.2 GPA I wouldnt consider this the safest bet. Either way, regardless of the school, I have absolutely no money saved for college, and my family lives pretty much paycheck to paycheck. I cant get a job because of extra curriculars, and Im trying to work on a possible sports scholarship, but not many are offered for rowing. Anyways, I have no idea what to do. I want to go to a good school, but I dont have any money at all, and 52k a year sounds like a disgustingly high amount of money for college. What should I do?  <response>: Take a look at the FAFSA: Federal Student Aid I found it quite useful.--One route you could take is to go to a cheaper institution for your first two years to get your mandatory liberal arts classes out of the way, then transfer to UMichigan for your last two years. Although by the end of the first two years, you may feel settled in and not want to move...less tuition?!--You can also look for scholarships while in school. Heres a really cool article that has some good information on scholarships. Not sure if its up to date though.--Also, make sure you know what youre getting out of college. If you have the motivation, you can start a business without going to college; youll pick up business skills much faster, and can go to college later to brush up when your financial situation is better. This isnt me hypothesizing, at the China European International Business School here, there are a ton of people already have their own business and then went there to learn business. 