tashabot–two of the best things you can do for your finances while you’re in school are:
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Make an appointment with a financial aid advisor at the university or college you’re going to be taking classes at. Bring all your official document things–your tax returns, pay stubs, etc. when you go. You probably won’t need them, but on the off chance that you do, you won’t have to make a second appointment, and
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As several other people here have already suggested, file your FAFSA.
When you fill out the FAFSA, say you’re interested in work-study opportunities. You can get those pretty easily, even if the Dept. of Education takes your folks’ income into account when they calculate how much moolah to give you. I know you’re already working two jobs, but there might be a work-study job that will both give you more job skills and pay you a better wage than you’re earning now. Work-study jobs were absolute godsends for me getting through school.
You say that the newspaper you work for is behind you all the way. Would they be willing to give you tuition reimbursement? How about tuition assistance? Could they pick up the cost of your books and claim it as a business expense?
I second everything that earlier posters said about getting tax credits for your tuition and expenses.
Once you’ve taken a couple of classes and gotten good grades, you can advertise your services as a tutor, editor and/or proofreader. If you’re going to a big state school, where the major motivator for instructors is research and not teaching, there are all kinds of little tutoring/editing niches for advanced or particularly skilled students to fill. You can make some pretty good money doing this, and the overhead is low to nonexistent. (When I was tutoring, I earned about $25.00/hour for teaching one person, $35.00/hour if I was working with 2 people at once. I had absolutely no business expenses, aside from some time invested at the university libraries and sitting in on some lectures. Working as a tutor was a bit part of what got me through my last year of school.) You’ve already got writing experience, so you should be able to start selling your services pretty quickly.
Oh, no, please don’t misunderstand me. I agree that 36 hardly qualifies as old.* I just meant that I’m finding that my 36-year-old body, as compared to my 29-year-old body, has become appreciably resistant to overnight working hours + 1/2 day school sessions + less than 4-5 hours of sleep per day.
And I think it’s great that one of your gigs is basically work-from-home. If you’re already disciplined enough to do that (not everyone is, right?), than you ought to be okay once you add schoolwork into the mix.
And I’ll add that I agree with what Dangerosa said, with just a couple of caveats: one, with textbook publishers “updating” (in quotes because said updating is often BS edits or the addition of an updated and, for some people, useless CD) books as often as they do–and with so many professors acquiescing to administrative pressure to assign said BS updated editions–you’ll want to be careful if you’re buying a book that was used in a previous semester; and two, if a book that you know you won’t keep after the course is over is too expensive, and if the library doesn’t have a copy for lending, you might be able to get a reserve copy and make photocopies of what you’ll need. I’ve spent so much intimate time with the copying machines on campus ($100+ for a textbook? Get the hell outta here!) that I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that I have little Xerox cyborgs running around. (Well, Mama always DID want grandchildren!)
Cite? Pretty please? 
Anyway, my continued good thoughts.
*I may not be old, but I most certainly reserve the right to embrace my aging queeniness. 
Hooray for Tasha! Good for you!
That said, have you considered asking the Appeal if they are willing to give ya’ a little scholarship? I mean, you getting educated means better work for them, so they may be willing.
Tashabot, you’re going to do what I’ve been doing for the past year and a half. I work in a medical research lab doing graduate-level work and data analysis. My institution pays for 6 credit hours a semester, so I’m working on an MS in Biochemistry. I’m halfway through the coursework now. It’s been a challenge, but a wonderful feeling to learn something I can immediately apply to my job, or learn something that explains why I’ve been following this or that procedure. The classes I’ve taken already have allowed me to contribute more to the lab and to my own work, and have given me skills I wouldn’t have been able to acquire on my own. When I started, I had been out of college for 12 years, but the study habits came right back. For you though, college study habits are a little different than high school habits, but you would be surprised at how much discipline you’ve already learned from your job. And it is discipline that you will need to study and develop new study strategies.
To make your education successful, you need to set a routine where your schoolwork is part of your daily routine at home, and you need to stick to it like white on rice. Tashaboy also needs to be supportive and perhaps take on some responsibilities to help you out. OTOH, you need to be sure you make time for him, so that he doesn’t end up moping around the house while you study. Good luck. It can be done, you can do it, and you will get so much out of it.
Vlad/Igor