For those now at this juncture, where “heartbreak” may be looming, there are some good tips in this column (“A College Financial Aid Guide for Families Who Have Saved Nothing”) that was written in reaction to a much-discussed New York Times “Motherlode” blog post (“Instead of Saving for College, We Invested in Our Kids”) from last fall:
Check out the “recommended” comments section as well, as there was some good advice in there.
(BTW, the mom from the blog post did home school her oldest for several years. I actually thought of her story when reading @saintfan’s posts).