Agreed! Figure out a budget first!! Remember that the tuition/book/housing/misc. totals posted on college websites doesn’t accurately reflect all extras (travel, clothing, eating out, dorm room items, parking, mailbox, greek life, clubs, etc.) So keep the “extras” in mind. For example, if you child goes out of state - flights, rides to/from airport, etc. Three best pieces of advice from the college guidance counselor we paid to help us: 1) College costs impact the whole family - one child should not bankrupt everyone else in the family. 2) Find a School that will basically pay you to attend. Some schools provide a lot of merit aid! 3) Better to pay less for undergrad and spend more on graduate/law/med school.