How much familial support did you receive/are you receiving?
None of my family could afford to help with the expenses of college, so I had to do it all on my own. I received a full scholarship, but still had to pay for room and board. I worked two full time jobs while going to school. Luckily, they were both as a hotel desk clerk, so when things were slow I could do my studying.
For grad school, my husband paid for all that was not covered in grants and loans. We agreed that I would stay home and go to school/ do my research/ take care of the kids during the day, and when he retires in 8 years I would become his sugar momma while he takes over the role as soccer mom. 
The first two courses I didnt have to pay much, that was when tertiary education in Australia was free - the liberal government brought in fees during my honours year.
My grad dip was partially paid for by my employer, part by me. And that was expensive.
I feel sorry for the poor bastards who now have to fork out $40k for a degree.
I was lucky. I had a bursary which covered all but a couple hundred dollars of my tuition and fees every yaer, and I was able to renew it every school year. I had well-paying summer jobs which paid most of my expenses throughout the school year, and my parents have helped me a LOT. Their plan with all of us kids is to help us through school - if we finish, or chose not to go to school, then we had to start paying for things ourselves 100%. My father shared the car insurance cost with me, and my parents have helped with rent, although I could most likely have paid much more on my own than they would allow me to! At present, I am searching for a full-time job, having finished university in December. Once that gets sorted out and a few paycheques come in, I will begin truly “weaning” myself off of my parents!
I am grateful for all the help my parents were able to give me, and I KNOW that things would have been a lot different if it wasn’t for that bursary. In that case, I likely would have had to work much more during the school year, and that would have been somewhat difficult for me, but I would have managed. I probably wouldn’t have moved in with my SO, nor even kept the car, which has been really useful to have - especially since my summer job was an hour away!
My parents are also helping my brother and sister through school, although past experience with my brother means that he needs to support himself more than I did. As for my sister - she’s maintaining a 90+ average in a double major which means that her university is giving her free tuition.On top of that, the other scholarships and awards she keeps winning are essentially paying HER to go to school. She is living at home, but that is partially due to the fact that there’s no point moving since the school is nearby, and her physical health is such that my parents aren’t about to force her to move out. As my dad likes to joke, she’s being paid to go, and since she’s a vegetarian, he really only needs to buy lettuce, so why not let her stay at home? 
Well I dropped out of high school in my thrid year so when I decided to go to college my dad was not interested in paying so we struck a deal. He reimbursed me for my tution and books after each semester as long as I maintained a 3.0 average. I worked full time all through college. Mainly as a computer programmer for the oil industry. It was a little tough with taking a full load in electrical engineering, but I managed to finish college in four and a half years.
I am attending college now. I filled out and received a lot of aid by going to the FAFSA ( http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ ) website. A combo of grants (Pell, federal and state), loans and works study were offered to me. I am an adult, unmarried woman, so my situation is probably different from younger people living with their parents, but I was very surprised at how much aid I was eligible to receive.
Paid for school myself, primarily through owning and operating a taxicab. I drove it and had other guys running it when I wasn’t. Going to a state school (University of Texas) helped in that tuition wasn’t anything like what private school tuition was, and I managed to get through without taking out any loans.
I’m Australian, and was subject to the fees program antechinus mentions.
I incurred about $A3000 of Higher Education Contribution Scheme (“HECS”) debt per semester over five years of law school and business school tuition(LLB/BCom double). So we’re talking about $A30,000+ all up.
HECS debts are not subject to interest per se, but they’re indexed to a measure of inflation (which is running at about 2.3 per cent annually in Australia, IIRC). You don’t have to start repaying your HECS debt until you earn more than $A24,365 a year. Beyond that threshold, a certain percentage of your income is taken out and put towards HECS repayments. The rate begins at 3 per cent, and progressively increases to a maximum of 6 per cent for those earning $43,859 or more.
Enough to live on. I was lucky enough not to have to work part-time throughout my uni career (I worked during student vacations, however).
I had some Social Security benefit (because my mother had died) that paid for room/board. I worked full time during the summers, and the rest was made up with student loans. I owed about $12,000 when I graduated in 1984 and was able to pay it off within 3 years.
I dropped out of high school, and went into the army. Once in, I took on base classes through the University of Maryland for free, way before the internet and at the beginning of concept of distance learning. Once discharged, I had enough credits to continue as a full time student at New Hampshire Tech and then onto Keene State College. I went in the army at the end of the Vietnam era GI bill, and that paid for almost everything. I stayed in the reserves to cover my living expenses. I graduated without having to ever borrow any money. I am very thankful to my government for what they did for me. I wish our men and women serving today could get the breaks I enjoyed.
My parents give me £2500 a year. And my Grandparents gave me £1000 when I started uiversity. Sadly, my Grandad died in December so he won’t see me graduate. (2006). I use my student loan to pay everything else.
I have worked since HS graduation with a year or two off between jobs. During the between jobs times Mom and Dad helped. I did pay for most of Grad School by just taking one class at a time - four per year (there were two summer semesters). It is a lot easier to pay in full this way.
I paid about a 1/3 from savings (wise investments+ some $$ I inherited), my parents paid about a 1/3 and my University paid about 1/3 through grants/scholarships.
I was fortunate that my mom was able to pay my way through college. I did have a job to pay for books. However, when I decided to get my master’s my mom was really disappointed. When I graduated college I was 22, and mom thought I should be settling down and getting married, and told me that I’d have to pay my own way for grad school. So I worked full time as a legal secretary and had one part-time job as a seamstress, another as a file clerk in a different law firm from the one I was a secretary for, and yet another part-time job as a photographer’s assistant.
UK here…
I got through three years of undergraduate with £10,000 student loan, my parents spending about £7,000, and me borrowing about £2,000 from them. My masters degree was research-board funded, so fees were paid and I received £7,500 to live on for the year.
I’m in college right now. As we speak. Yup, here in my dorm room.
My parents are putting me through school. I have a teeny tiny scholarship, that I got from NY State, but that was really just an added bonus…didn’t have to do anything to get it, really, and it’s only for about $500 a year. Actually it’s almost more trouble than it’s worth, since the college always screws up with billing…
I paid my way through university by student loans and working two jobs. And now I’m paying those student loans back, which I think will take forever.
I’m currently a student. My family gave me $2000 this year and the rest I paid myself (last summer’s income + a little I had saved up). Next year will be similar but my contribution will be a little smaller because I don’t have anything left in my savings account. If I don’t get any bursaries I’ll need a small student loan. I find I can make the most money if I get a summer job that includes free accomodation. Luckily I’m able to travel, someone with kids or other obligations might not be able to do that.
Familiar 50/50 for the first year 1/2 and then payed my way after that (company benefit).
I’m one of those exceedingly lucky people with exceedingly nice parents who are paying for all of my school, as of now. Things might change in the future, but right now they pay for tuition, books, supplies, car insurance and gas (car was inherited) and they’re going to mostly cover my rent and things next year. I try to always remember how lucky I am, I work part time and use the money to cover other things, and save alot. I use my savings to travel, and invest in the stock market, in hopes that I will also be able to put my children through college. After reading about student loans, and seeing how hard my coworkers have to work to pay for school, I think it’s one of the best things you could give your children.