College is expensive. According to The College Board, in '05-'06 the average public school annual cost was $12,127 and $29,026 for a private school (including tuition, fees, room & board). And, it's increasing faster than inflation (>5% per year). Be encouraged though! Almost 70% of students attending a four-year college paid less than $8,000 in tuition and fees during that same period.  Perhaps all those zeroes don't faze you because you've successfully squirreled away plenty of money for your child's education via a 529 college savings plan or some other means. If so, way to go!

But what if you haven't come close to pulling that off? The following tips can provide you with additional ideas about how you and your child can drum up money for school. The links contained within many of these tips and the resources at the end of the column can provide you with much more detail about specific strategies if you need it. Read more from MSNBC.com.