Dealing with the costs of college

So right now I'm a senior in high school, struggling to figure out in what ways I can come up with $12,000 or $7,000 (depending on if I get this one scholarship) to go to a small private school that I am dead-set on going to. My parents are paying for $12,000 of the cost and I'm the recipient of a $14,000 Board of Trustees Scholarship, and I'm going to be shooting for this $5000 scholarship at the school to see if I can get that to help me out (and thereby bring my cost down to $7000 a year). Regardless of whether or not I get that 5K scholarship, the situation calls up two subjects to my mind: one is how ridiculously high tuition costs have risen - well over inflation - and now stand (and therefore why that is the case and what can and should be done about it) and two, what I can do to drum up the money in scholarships to pay for the bulk of my extra costs so that I can go to this school.

In this blog entry I will share my thoughts with you all and then hope to gauge your perspective (and suggestions) on these two issues.

When it comes to college tuition, I do not believe in expanding federal support for tuition. From what I've seen, the biggest result of increases in college tuition assistance has been an even larger increase in the cost of college. When the government subsidizes something, there tends to be an increase in the costs of the service as the door is opened for it to happen. Increasing aid subsidies would only serve to hurt the public in the long run and result in even more subsidies, and then more, and then more as the cycle continues, and those who are ineligible for need-based aid (like I am) will find it even harder to pay for college. Colleges do not need to charge such a grandiose amount, yet they do so at their liberty, and they can and will continue to do so, especially when it becomes clear that more handouts are available. The particular school I want to go to has 1600 students in attendance - and $38,000 a year in costs!

Just as well, the solution to college costs is not in government controls. Public schools are under the jurisdiction of the state governments anyway, so the states could cap those traditions if need be (though it is interesting to note that public school tuition increases have well surpassed those of private schools); however, private schools are private for a reason. Yes, their costs are excessive; I am facing that problem myself. But the government has no jurisdiction, and should not have any jurisdiction, over the amount of money these universities charge. So how do we solve them?

I'm not quite sure what an alternative solution would be yet. I've been pondering this, given what I know I do not support, and trying to figure out an alternative myself. I'll let you know when I do, but I'm interested in hearing what you think can be done to stem the rising tide of tuition costs.

But then there's the question that, for me, is even more relevant, and that is, how to drum up the money I need to pay the remainder of my costs for college. I stumbled upon this site through a FastWeb search, and yesterday I submitted stuff to receive three scholarships which could help me out and intend on submitting things for several others as well, trying to drum up as much support in scholarships as possible. Therefore I ask, does anyone here have any scholarships that they know of that are of a good amount (or even not a good amount, just a reputable provider) that I, or someone else here who is in a situation such as myself, as I'm sure others are, might be interested in checking out and applying for?

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts and suggestions!