Since he is in 9th grade, you have time to learn a lot of the basic stuff about college planning, so that you have a better idea whether you have questions or needs that professional assistance would be helpful for.
The first thing you need to do as the parent is make the financial plan. Figure out how much you can save for his college costs (and those of any other kids) and how much you can pay out of current income while he is in college (same for any other kids). On colleges’ web sites, there will be net price calculators that you can use to get financial aid estimates. Use them on a selection of colleges, such as your state’s public flagship university, a nearby state public university, and other colleges of interest, so that you can get an idea of whether your financial plan is realistic, or if he will need to target colleges lower in selectivity to get merit scholarships. But note that if your income is unusual (e.g. small business, real estate) or the parents are divorced, there are various complicating issues that can make college financial aid harder to get.
The basic tasks for the student are:
- Make rigorous (e.g. honors/advanced/AP/etc. as appropriate for subjects of strength and interest) college-prep course selections with a well-rounded base curriculum in high school.
- Do well in all high school course work.
- In 11th grade fall, take the PSAT to try for National Merit.
- In 11th grade, take the SAT and ACT to get baseline test scores for college search.
- At the end of 11th grade, if any colleges of interest require or recommend SAT subject tests, take ones that are appropriate in relation to college requirements or recommendations and high school courses being completed.
- Participate in extracurricular activities of interest. High achievement in them may help at some colleges.