Ask the L.A. Times: What’s the best way to pay for college?

How do you pay for college without sinking into debt (or depression)?

That’s the question facing millions of families this month as they await college acceptance letters and, often more important, details about financial aid.

If your child is already in college or still a few years away, let the L.A. Times help you make sense of financial aid and student loans.

How do you get the biggest aid package? What must you know about student loans? What financial steps should you take in the years leading up to college?

Tweet your question using the hashtag #asklatimes or leave it in a comment on this post; I’ll answer as many as I can in a story to be published in the next week. (Please note that we may embed your question in that story, making it public on our site.)

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Number of millionaires in U.S. reaches a new high

More U.S. workers are confident of a comfortable retirement

Record number of educated women in U.S. are ‘marrying down’

Follow Walter Hamilton on Twitter @LATwalter