<p>You say you don’t think your parents can contribute much to college. A lot of people feel that way, but the hard numbers are what determine that. The tax returns will figure heavily as to what your parents are going to be expected to pay. And if they can afford to buy a nice car, they can’t be doing that poorly. My family is considered high income, and because we do pay for a lot of tuitions, we drive junkers, not only because of the initial cost of a nice new car, but the increased cost of maintenance and insurance. All we care is that the car is safe and doesn’t need a lot of maintenance.</p>
<p>Sit down with the 2010 tax return and the list of assets and you will get an idea of what your parents are expected to pay. Pick a PROFILE school with an estimator and see what numbers come up there since home equity, value of cars and other things like that will come up.</p>