<p>BTW-- I'd guess that with a large family, income around 50K annually, little in savings (and I presume few assets in the college-bound child's name), that your Expected Family Contribution will be very low, maybe a few thousand dollars. Use the FAFSA calculator (it's linked here somewhere) to get a better idea based on your specific circumstances.</p>
<p>Being debt free is a good thing, and won't be held against you.</p>
<p>You won't need to have your property appraised.</p>
<p>The process goes like this: Your son selects a number of colleges to apply to. You fill out the FAFSA once, and indicate which colleges the son is applying to on the FAFSA. Your FAFSA numbers will be based on your actual '04 income, but you'll be estimating your '05 income, and you'll update it later after you're sure of the numbers for the year. (You may need to fill out the similar Profile form if he's applying to any of the schools that require that). Later, shortly after the acceptance/rejection letters come out, you'll receive a financial aid offer from each college to which he was accepted.</p>
<p>The offers will always be based on the EFC (Expected Family Contribution), which should be pretty low. But not all offers will be the same-- some will involve more grant money, some will involve more loans (student and/or Parent). All will likely include a work study component where your son works while in school to contribute to his education.</p>
<p>Then you pick a school that meets your needs, update the FAFSA with your actual '05 income numbers, and send him off to college! I think you'll be fine--</p>