Our daughter is finishing up her freshman year in college.  Probably one of the most painful things I have experienced as a parent involved with a child going to college is the application process for financial aid.  It is a complicated process obfuscated by poorly written questions and confusing tax terms.  Last year, I probably lost 40-50 work hours trying to figure out the two main forms that needed to be filled out: FAFSA (for federal financial aid) and the CSS Profile aid application also used by many institutions.  This year was a little easier because of what we learned last year, and I hope that next year will be even easier.