<p>Have you started college visits yet? If going to open houses, there is often a financial aid seminar that might be a good opener.</p>
<p>I also suggest doing the research on the cost of attending your state flagship. This is often a good mid-range to use. You might also start by researching a range of schools, and asking them what they think about the schools and their cost. You don’t want to waste time visiting schools that are definitely going to be unaffordable.</p>
<p>Is one parent more approachable than the other? You can explain that others in your school have gotten to senior year and have discovered they couldn’t afford schools, or are taking on a lot of debt. You’d like to have an adult conversation about this to make the college hunt better for everyone.</p>
<p>It’s great that you’re going to have this talk with them. They’re lucky that you’re so conscious of cost now, instead of waiting until after you’ve applied.</p>