For families like the Coccomos, navigating college financial aid offers is more difficult than the applications themselves. : For every parent like Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin who tried to buy their kid's way into college, there are a slew of others who can barely afford it. "We are in that funny trap where we don't qualify for aid but we also don't have $70,000 a year to spend on private college," said Robin Coccomo, 42. Her oldest son, Paul, will be a freshman in the fall and she also has two other children not far behind.