• Age: 18

• Address: Kenwood

• College status: Freshman, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., majoring in political science/pre-law

• Estimated cost: $45,000 a year

• How she'll make it happen: She has a $30,000 financial-aid package, of which $17,000 is scholarships and grants. The rest is work-study and low-interest loans taken out in her name. Her parents are shouldering the remainder and have been building up stocks, reserves and life-insurance monies. The university also has guaranteed a fixed tuition price for her four years.

• How high college costs are affecting her: George Washington was her only choice, so she ended up committing early to the school and hoping she would get significant financial aid to pay for it.

"It's where our only daughter wants to go, and we're going to just try to figure it out," says her mother, Melissa Broome. "It's a real step of faith in how we're actually going to meet these requirements. She will have to work, she will have loans, and we will have loans, probably."